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French Speed Cameras

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Here is one to - ahem - keep on the radar...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/11547421/UK-drivers-caught-by-French-speed-cameras-to-face-fines.html
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I thought they were already doing that...
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
@under a new name, it takes time for our Dutch troll to translate the big words in any Daily Torygraph article (the article is dated 15th April wink )
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@Samerberg Sue, I thought they'd been doing it for ages. Certainly to me in Switzerland they seem to be able to track me down these days... rolling eyes
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@under a new name, and me here in Germany! Sad The UK opted out of the original agreement to share driver /car ownership details, but as they wanted to fine the "hundreds and thousands of dangerous European drivers going wild" on UK roads, they have been told "we'll tell you if you tell us" Laughing Laughing
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Rental companies have been forwarding French speeding fines for a couple of years now.
But you don't get point on a UK license for EU offences (yet...)

£30 isn't so bad - though French speeding tickets are incremental depending on speed.
A friend collected 3 tickets on one late night trip from La Grave to Geneve last January Toofy Grin
Only found out when he got home to 3 separate letters.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@Haggis_Trap, oops. There's one particularly nasty one at the junction at Annemasse set at 70 so you have to go 130-70-130 in a very short space.

A major contribution to road safety (and nothing at all to do with the Mairie's entertainment and jollies budget I'm sure...)
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
There is one at Bardonnex that is set really low.
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@rjs, it is, but you've got a long run in of decreasing limits, also, it seems to have been inactive the last few transits I made. At least not flashing the unwary, as it were... Twisted Evil Twisted Evil
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I thought that the French toll roads automatically checked whether cars had done their segment in faster-than-the-speed-limit time? Which is extremely easy for those clever toll computers. Hence the Gendarmes stationed on the other side of the big end-of-section tolls? Is this an urban myth or actually true?
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Quote:

Is this an urban myth ?


I thought that one really was an urban myth. The gendarmes are there because they will have had an un-noticed radar trap set up just a few km before the péage booth
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
@msej449, & @Hells Bells, Not sure about gendarmes bit, but I know the toll computer gives you are warning about "grand vitesse" or did years ago.

I went on trip with a friend a few years ago (must be about 10 years ish now or maybe more so before the auto cameras) and he had a derv company BMW, that i found out he drove rather quickly,(as his company paid for the fuel) we did about 180 kph most of the time (and more at times...he was mad) down the A6, and got to the tolls, as it was right hand drive I had to do the ticket and the computer did lots of flashing warnings which i had never seen before (or since!). However there were no gendarmes.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
@msej449, it's certainly a myth on the Geneva-Chamonix section of the A40 which we drive most weeks and usually at indicated 145-150 kph (because I am evil, but not evil enough to try to take over the world, nor drown kittens) and have never had any peage related issues. Nor is it broadcast to us on our state sponsored telepeage device that we are evil.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
For a while a few foreign police forces were using the services of debt collectors in the UK to pursue the fines. The UK collectors were using dubious means to obtain the registered keepers details from the DVLA. They had absolutely no legal basis for pursuing the money but as with parking charges it didn't stop them and they relied on ignorance and fear to get the money. I think the DVLA stopped providing the info in these circumstances but can't be certain.

Before this could become law in the UK there would need to be fairly widespread changes to our own law. Given the rammed parliamentary agenda I can't see it happening any time soon.

On my jaunts through France I've been flashed many times but never heard anything. Each time I do arrive back in the country I keep wondering if an ANPR camera spots me and triggers an alert about past transgressions and I suddently find myself hased down the autoroute by the Gendarmes. Razz Razz Razz Razz
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
with current laws, anpr on a subsequent border crossing could mean nothing or be a pita.
uk cars tend to keep a registration for life, so sell the car and someone else gets stopped, or you might get pulled for a previous owner's speeding.
german cars the registration plate tends to change on sale and re-registration of the car and used to change if you move from 1 registration area to another, so again there's a way that an offender won;t be spotted and someone else might flash up (in this case in a totally different car, although i don;t know if used plates get "blocked" for some time before re-use).
or might just be a different driver.

so if anpr did set off a red light to the gendarmes or polizei, they'd need a lot more evidence before they could issue a ticket
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
The péage check is an urban myth. In the 22 years I lived in France (not all of them driving admitedly), I have never seen any suggestion of it (and I used to cruise happily at 160kph) and so checked it out when I heard about this when moving to the UK. And confirmed it was never real. Legally I can see why: the tolls are privately operated and would require a high level of maintenance to ensure that they were always accurate, the rumours were flying around even the technology to read number plates wasn't around so you'd have had to have gendarmes/police on hand all the time etc.. I think it'd have been to complicated and expensive to run such a scheme..

On a side note I have been wondering about how Dartford Crossing would enforce their fines with foreign drivers. have they got access to the required database even though UK police doesn't yet? They mention local debt collectors but would those have any legal rights to claim fines?
The 2017 might change all that but so far it looks to me as if Dartford are using scare tactics. And giving users about 24hrs to pay only before issuing fines is a disgrace considering how unclear the whole scheme is..
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I got a couple 'police greetings' while going to or from ski holidays ... It operates well between FR and BE police forces for a couples years already. Last year on my annual 'guys only' trip to Tignes, I was skyping with my wife and on Sunday (trip was on Saturday) and she gladly informed me about the 'greetings' - one day, including post services. I was impresed but not happy Embarassed

The peage average speed is not implemented yet, but technicaly it is very easy to do and less expensive than a regular radar.

@andy, if a registration and car a linked for life, why is it a problem? It is for the police to determine whom to send it - depending on time when the speeding ticket was issued. How does a police in the UK send speed fines in this case? The FR police would ask the UK police whom to send the ticket, this is how it works. Although the letter I got was from the FR police, my 'contact details' to FR police were given by BE authorities ...
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
was referring to the previous post, ie re-arriving in the country of a former transgression and getting picked out by ANPR in that country.

currently there's no UK-FR cross border access to registration details, although other EU countries do have reciprocal agreements.
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mooney058, It would be simpler to just give every Belgian car a speeding ticket at the French border.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@rjs, not true - most BE drivers do not/can not drive on highways - 1/2 are reckless and drive too fast (mea culpa); some drive tooooo slow and do not make a difference between city and highway driving (like chaning lanes without using rear/side mirrors .... I love driving in BE cities, but highways - a plain disaster ..... so it is not ticket that is needed, but a friendly kick ... Smile
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Kruisler wrote:
On a side note I have been wondering about how Dartford Crossing would enforce their fines with foreign drivers. have they got access to the required database even though UK police doesn't yet? They mention local debt collectors but would those have any legal rights to claim fines?
The 2017 might change all that but so far it looks to me as if Dartford are using scare tactics. And giving users about 24hrs to pay only before issuing fines is a disgrace considering how unclear the whole scheme is..


Seems unclear here too. I can't for the life of me think why they haven't just done that as a credit card system like every other toll system in Europe. If you're going to implement a successful charge or tax, surely to god making it easy to pay is the no 1 priority? Thankfully I have rellies just off the M40 so for us using that route to Staffs makes sense and we don't really have to worry about it but it's a PITA
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@Kruisler, On your Dartford side note, I forgot to pay for a crossing and ended up paying it 2 days late, and never heard anything from them. So there seems to be a bit of leeway on the 24 hours bit
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
karin wrote:
@Kruisler, On your Dartford side note, I forgot to pay for a crossing and ended up paying it 2 days late, and never heard anything from them. So there seems to be a bit of leeway on the 24 hours bit
If its your first time through the Dartford crossing you do get up to 14 days to pay. only on the first one !
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
It wasn't the first time.
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
Hells Bells wrote:
Quote:

Is this an urban myth ?


I thought that one really was an urban myth. The gendarmes are there because they will have had an un-noticed radar trap set up just a few km before the péage booth


It is a myth - A french policeman (not gendarme but state police) now in my family (by sibling marriage I hasten to add) confirmed that this does not happen - he has never heard of it.

however, After many years of driving back during HT, there is a "set piece" performed by gendarmes during the Feb half term. In my opinion, 40% of the vehicles on the dijon reims calais route during Feb half term are UK, NL and BE vehicles, the majority are UK, the worst driven and most aggressive being BE!

the set piece is as follows - mostly on the reims to calais leg - first a speed gun, a small fleet of bikes which chase you down to the next exit where a temporary speed fine "camp" has been set up on the roundabout. Of course most Brits travel, empty-pocketed, back to calais so the gendarmes take your passport and give you a map to the nearest ATM for the 90 EUR fine and return your passport on payment!

sometimes you spot them sometimes not. in 2015 I did not and I had to queue up at the speed camp before the usual visit to the ATM to pay my fine. There was around 6-7 UK "victims" vehicles scattered around the the roundabout camp and no other nationailities so I asked the very friendly gendarme why did they only target UK cars. He told me BE and NL share data so they receive fines automatically in the post. he has to pullover UK vehicles because the UK do not share data!

Not for long so it seems !
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Seen small fleet of bikes on the bit of autoroute between Belgium and Calais/Dunquerque, coming from Bruges direction. Always an emtpy stretch of road that, always easy to ignore limits. Only busy bit is Dunquerque bypass section, and that has a lower limit that is very easy to exceed. And has semi stealthy cameras between the crash barrier.
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
@lazyskier, regarding BE driving, as I understand it, Belgium didn't introduce driving tests until 1983, which explains a lot!!
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
I don't tend to go over the speed limit these days, but did get snapped leaving Chamonix in a snow storm Embarassed think the front number plate and the front of the car was covered in snow, so not sure if the radar thingy would work Toofy Grin Toofy Grin

If the UK has until 2017 to sign up, we might have left the EU my then rolling eyes
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
The only time I've been stopped in France for speeding they didn't take my hold my passport but escorted me to a cashpoint to get the money to pay their fine. This obviously didn't then get spent on lunch by the officers in question. The most annoying part of it all was that they took me to the most out of the way inconvenient cash point possible, off the motorway and into some tiny little town, all this having driven by at least 2 service stations on the motor way which would have no doubt had cash points.
Interestingly I recently found out that the Dartford Toll is now run by the SANEF who also operate all the tolls in France.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
I was SENT to a cashpoint, leaving passport behind with the gendarme who was parked up eating his sandwiches in a very sleepy dorp at lunchtime. It was a fair cop, as the place did have a name, which automatically means speed limit is 50 kph but there hadn't been any signs and he clocked me at 65. The last inhabitant had probably moved away from the little hamlet in about 1974.

He gave me receipt and filled in lots of forms; I have no reason to believe there was anything corrupt about the operation though he did ignore a number of other drivers going at least as fast as I had been, when he painstakingly filled in all the forms. My fault - and ironic, as I was driving off the motorway deliberately to avoid the tolls. Laughing

My brother in law, who constantly teases me for driving slowly, thought it was bloody hilarious....
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Quote:

I recently found out that the Dartford Toll is now run by the SANEF who also operate all the tolls in France.


But of course you can't use your SANEF tag for the Dartford crossing
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
The French will be running everything, before long. Probably a good thing. Much as the English (not necessarily the British) like to sneer at French labour laws, over-regulation, long lunches etc their productivity is usefully better than ours.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
I have just come back from the Dolomites and if you think France and UK are a bit OTT then they are nothing like the Dolomites. It appears that every tiny village or hamlet has one or two at the entrance and possibly one at the exit. There appear to be 3 times the number that were there last year. Since most days I ended up driving up the Falzarego Pass or equivilant I suspect I was over 50 at least once. To make matters worse many of the grey wheely bins have yellow and black hazard tape on them when they are left out in the road and you can easily mix the two up.

@pam w, your story of being caught speeding reminds me of the times many years ago when there apeeared to be a police car or motor bike every few miles in France. You knew they were there since every one flassed their lights at you as a warning as you approached. They pulled me and my wife over one day for riding our bikes without the lights on. They fined me (I had the cash and this was before ATM machines anyway) but let my wife off. They were very polite and actually spoke English. Apparently they thought it was too cruel to fine both of us.
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pam w wrote:
French...... productivity is usefully better than ours.


When the cost of employing anyone in anything larger than a micro-company is huge you get two results, high productivity and high unemployment.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
just drive at the speed limit=solved
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