 Poster: A snowHead
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| Origen wrote: |
And should you be spoken to by M. Gendarme, probably best to be a bit less arsey than you've been on this thread, @wasley
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Only time I was stopped was for rolling a stop sign. To my horror my wife did the "do you know who I am" routine - they didn't but they were soon to find out, much to their discomfort.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Smart Ars* reply coming up.
| wasley wrote: |
| I've had a clean drivers licence for the past 20 years which would suggest I do stick to the speed limit. |
If you stick to the speed limit, why are you bothered about cameras?
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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?
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@195062, that would be a rhetorical question, wouldn't it? 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@adithorp, exactly that kind of thing
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I got ‘done’ three times on the same trip about 10 years ago, in a rental car, on the journey to/from Marseille /Briancon. I thought I’d driven within the limits. But hadn’t reduced speed quickly enough for tunnels, from memory it was 130kph to 80kph. I wasn’t aware until Europcar wrote to me in the UK with photographic evidence on the French government documents.
I paid straight away.
Lesson learned. Not just for not getting caught, but for the safety of others including my family.
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I was over the speed limit earlier this year on probably the A48 from Lyon to Grenoble. I'm sure the camera did flash but 9 months later I still have not received a speeding ticket...
Out of curiosity will points get deducted too?
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| davidof wrote: |
lots of Brits have been volunteering their bank and contact details via emission zone stickers |
Bloody hell, do you think the French system is clever enough to tie the two together? If so they were certainly playing the long game when they introduced and encouraged us foreigners to buy a Crit Air sticker
I guess I was lucky when I got no fines in the post when I accidentally set off all 3 around the Chambery area a couple of years ago
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| davidof wrote: |
| Origen wrote: |
And should you be spoken to by M. Gendarme, probably best to be a bit less arsey than you've been on this thread, @wasley
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Only time I was stopped was for rolling a stop sign. To my horror my wife did the "do you know who I am" routine - they didn't but they were soon to find out, much to their discomfort. |
Hubby was stopped for similar just of the autoroute north of Reims. Unfortunately they weren't interested in me being Hells Bells of SnowHeads.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Hells Bells, I was happy to pay the fine, 90 euros I think but the two cops started getting arsey and that sent the missus off on one, I did warn them to just issue the ticket and take the money when it was offered.
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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.
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@davidof, we had to follow the gendarmes to the cash machine in Guignacourt which was quite a detour from our hotel stop. They got a bit arsey with J too, but that may have been because he responded to their request to tell them the car reg number with 'it's on the front of the car'.
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@Hells Bells, 
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You know it makes sense.
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| Hells Bells wrote: |
| @davidof, we had to follow the gendarmes to the cash machine in Guignacourt which was quite a detour from our hotel stop. They got a bit arsey with J too, but that may have been because he responded to their request to tell them the car reg number with 'it's on the front of the car'. |
En français, or in shouty English?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@Hells Bells, brilliant !
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Poster: A snowHead
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I didn't have to follow a gendarme. It was lunchtime and he wanted to get on with his sandwich. He impounded my passport and sent me off to the cash machine. We were in "la France profonde" and it was quite a way away. I was very polite and speak enough French for such situations. I even wished him "bon appetit".
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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From my experience the gendarmes work in pairs, the first car will be well hidden and record your speed, and a few miles further down there will be a second car parked in a layby, they pull out in front of you with blue flashing lights and expect you to follow them a bit further into a parking area where they issue the 90 Euro fine.
The 130km/h limit feels very slow on the long straight toll roads in France, especially if you are also driving in Germany on the same holiday where there is still plenty of unrestricted autobahn where 160-200kmh is commonplace.
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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?
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I tried pretending not to speak French when I got stopped by a gendarme on foot before I'd even left Calais. I realised that wasn't going to work when he took out a well-thumbed dictionary, at least not if I wanted to get back on the road that day.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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When we were stopped by a couple of young Italian policemen (not carabinieri, some lower form) I was told by the Italian woman I was with that I had to do all the talking. I spoke so little Italian I didn't need to "act dumb". Eventually they just waved us on. I had all the required documents, we had done nothing wrong. She said they were probably just bored and intrigued by a foreign car in a place where few such exotic creatures were to be found.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@JohnS4, when they’re being really clever about it, the first car is a few km before a peage where they know everyone has to stop, so they can pull people over on an industrial scale, totally safely. Only seen that once, but it seemed a very effective way to collect fines.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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There is a series on C8 that shows the police in different areas of France working, it can be viewed online. Stopping speeders at a peage is standard practice.
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| Quote: |
it seemed a very effective way to collect fines.
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and to slow them down on the next stretch, perhaps. The carnage on French roads is now much reduced, since the big campaigns of a few years ago. One of Macron's greater successes?
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| Origen wrote: |
| Quote: |
it seemed a very effective way to collect fines.
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and to slow them down on the next stretch, perhaps. The carnage on French roads is now much reduced, since the big campaigns of a few years ago. One of Macron's greater successes? |
Jacques Chirac, the French socialists have always been extremely comfortable with bad driving
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Get one of these … https://ooono.com/products/co-driver-no2
Technically illegal in both France and Switzerland BUT as it’s such a discreet button put it somewhere invisible and then no problem (as the police can’t search your car without your permission)*.
I have Waze too but I’ve found that the OOONO, which is connected to the Blitzer.de database IIRC, is more up to date and accurate.
As it’s such a small gadget it’s easy to take with you and then use in a hire car.
* unless you’re suspected of serious criminality beyond speeding
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I believe that I have had 2 tickets from the French Department for Transport since Brexit - 2 "adjusted" speeds of 132kmh in a 130 limit, about 15 minutes apart, both from fixed radar installations, whilst driving a UK registered car.
Since then, I've endeavoured to not exceed the limit.... satnav shows a speed limit but it's not always up-to-date / aligned with the signed limit so potentially misleading.
The French government website mentioned is the only one I'm aware of (there may well be others) but I think that lists only fixed installations.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Blackblade, Not sure why you'd want to spend more money on a dedicated gadget for something that will just run on your phone. blitzer.de is the same as camsam, mentioned earlier. The free app is perfectly adequate.
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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.
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| Chaletbeauroc wrote: |
| @Blackblade, Not sure why you'd want to spend more money on a dedicated gadget for something that will just run on your phone. blitzer.de is the same as camsam, mentioned earlier. The free app is perfectly adequate. |
Well, because who has their phone readily to hand to report mobile cameras that have just been setup ? I would hope no-one.
The beauty of the OOONO is that it is essentially just a button … so you mount it somewhere convenient in the vehicle and press as soon as you encounter a speed camera.
What that means is that, at least in Germany where it’s very popular, it is the most up to date database and doesn’t just work for fixed camera sites. Usually, within a few minutes of a mobile check being setup someone will encounter it and press that button.
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@Blackblade, I think you miss the point. Both the app and the dedicated device use the same database. Whether another driver is pressing 'report' on the phone or on your button makes no difference to you getting the most up-to-date information.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Blackblade wrote: |
Well, because who has their phone readily to hand to report mobile cameras that have just been setup ? |
Anyone with carplay and Waze - which is pretty much everyone I know!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| boredsurfin wrote: |
Drive your own car - French Cameras do not send fines to the UK
However, Gendarmes in Cars and on bikes will stop you, particularly at Peage tolls, they have been known to stand under motorway bridges with hand held radars a couple of miles before the toll plaza. |
Sorry, incorrect.
I was flashed by the camera at the tunnel heading Albertville direction from Moutiers and the fine reached me very quickly within a week or so via the Leasing Company back in the UK. Wasnt that much as I recall nor was I bothered as I was actually trying to reach the hospital after my husband being airlifted out of La Plagne.
Just a word of warning therefore, French cameras do indeed send fines to the UK.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Maybe it's because the fine went to the leasing company first, same as when hire cars get the fine?
Ive lost count of the times I've been flashed by cameras in the last 4 or 5 years, and nothing has ever come through.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I received a €15 fine from a German fixed camera for our RHD Belgian registered car. I wrote back to them in bad French admitting the offence and offering to pay via a bank transfer. They wrote back in impeccable English, having worked out what side of the car the steering wheel was, to explain how to pay. processing the fine probably cost them more than the €15.
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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?
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@GixerGirl, As above if you have registered your UK car with the French Government by purchasing a Crit. Air sticker you have voluntarily given them your full details, so of course, they can send you a fine. (I have edited my earlier post for clarification) If not your car leasing company handed over your details for some reason.
The tunnel you were flashed in is restricted to 70KPH and has lots of signage leading up to it and the camera is well marked in the tunnel, additionally by the locals slamming on their brakes.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| boredsurfin wrote: |
| @GixerGirl, As above if you have registered your UK car with the French Government by purchasing a Crit. Air sticker you have voluntarily given them your full details, so of course, they can send you a fine. (I have edited my earlier post for clarification) |
Can't see that working very well. How do they know the person buying the Crit'air is still the owner of the car? Or that the owner hasn't changed address since they bought it? They were first introduced in 2017 so there will be millions of cars that have changed hands since, and AFAIK there is no requirement to update the French authorities on change of address or ownership.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@Judwin, If thats so how are the French getting UK registered owners details when there is no agreement by the respective Governments to share that information. GDPR applies in the EU as well as the UK I thought. Telepeage tags?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| boredsurfin wrote: |
| @Judwin, If thats so how are the French getting UK registered owners details when there is no agreement by the respective Governments to share that information. GDPR applies in the EU as well as the UK I thought. Telepeage tags? |
Don't know, but you can apply to DVLA for registered keeper details if you allege the vehicle has committed an offence on your property - it's how private parking companies get your details for the 'fines' they issue in shopping center car parks. The DVLA process is notoriously lax, and that's where my suspicions would lie. There is a cost for each enquiry, although the parking co's register for a job lot so get it cheaper. Perhaps the French only bother for excessive speeding where the fine would be more than a certain amount.
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| boredsurfin wrote: |
@GixerGirl, As above if you have registered your UK car with the French Government by purchasing a Crit. Air sticker you have voluntarily given them your full details, so of course, they can send you a fine. (I have edited my earlier post for clarification) If not your car leasing company handed over your details for some reason.
The tunnel you were flashed in is restricted to 70KPH and has lots of signage leading up to it and the camera is well marked in the tunnel, additionally by the locals slamming on their brakes. |
Hi - Leasing company must have handed over my details. It arrived 15 days after the event, while I was tending hubbies bed in neuro ward in Grenoble - granted I was speeding, I was doing 85 kph and I hold my hands up. Hubby had just suffered a severe stroke and heart attack in La Plagne, was gravely ill at that point, he was in a helicopter and I needed to get to that hospital.
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@GixerGirl, Good grief, I cant begin to imagine your stress level at that point - hope all was Ok in the end?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| boredsurfin wrote: |
| @GixerGirl, Good grief, I cant begin to imagine your stress level at that point - hope all was Ok in the end? |
Aww thanks, sadly he cant ski or motorcycle anymore, just participates in the apres and chalet craic, tragic for a fit 54 year old when it happened. Anyway we'd better stop spamming this thread with my woes. La Tania in a months time, no driving this time and no speeding ticket. Great dump out there just now. Best. Sheila.
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| Chaletbeauroc wrote: |
| @Blackblade, I think you miss the point. Both the app and the dedicated device use the same database. Whether another driver is pressing 'report' on the phone or on your button makes no difference to you getting the most up-to-date information. |
Not if it’s a lot more time and hassle to do it via the phone - which it is. The simplicity of the OOONO is what makes it much more usable and fast. Anyway, YMMV, but since moving to Germany I found huge numbers of motorists using it and I adopted it too.
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FAQ
