motoring fines in France

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Wed 22 Mar 2017 07:40
motoring fines in France - roland walford

I have read past discussions on motoring fines in France but my particular situation has not appeared and would be interested in others' views. I rented a car in France last year. Several months later I received a re-directed mail from the rental company, Avis, stating they had passed my details onto the agency in France that had given me a penalty. The address was incorrect though the post code was correct - hence it being re-directed. When I contacted the agency in France to enquire about it they did not recognise the penalty number given on the letter and said I would have to wait for the official Penalty Notice. Not having received this yet I presume they have sent it to the wrong address again. I have no problems paying the fine but I don't want to have added non-payment costs because I never received the Notice. What can I do?

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Wed 22 Mar 2017 17:39
motoring fines in France - concrete

Bit of a quandry roland. At least you have contact details for the official agency issuing the penalty. It could however still be a scam, as you suspected. I suppose you can only wait and see what appears in the post. I don't know if there is a time limit to serve these penalty notices as there is in the UK. It maybe available on the internet if your French is good enough. I would think that these foreign agencies are well used to protracted correspondence given the time and distance involved. Should push come to shove then I hope they will allow you the benefit of the early payment option.

Cheers Concrete

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Wed 22 Mar 2017 21:26
motoring fines in France - Smileyman

I'd check the credit card used to pay for the hire car, if there is an automatic fine then it is possible this was paid by Avis then charged on to your card, with a hefty handling fee attached.

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Wed 22 Mar 2017 21:50
motoring fines in France - focussed

There is a website to enable payment of traffic fines in France. It's not an agency that's involved it's a French government department. It's also in various languages including english.

If the payment demand is by anyone else it sounds like a scam.

www.amendes.gouv.fr/portail/index.jsp

I

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Wed 22 Mar 2017 23:24
motoring fines in France - SLO76
Can't say owt for France (though we did charge through their lovely toll road network at a every so slightly illegal lick) because we never seen a single speed trap or camera on a banger rally a few years back. A lovely country to drive in with very considerate and disciplined drivers on the whole.

We did however rack up several camera flashes in Switzerland and Italy (lunatics) in the old General Lee Mondeo and not one of them found its way to my door. Obviously though this is irrelevant as your case involves a hire car registered in France.

Highly recommend a European adventure in a sub £300 car. Trying to nurse a misfiring but fine handling Mk I Mondeo up and through the Stelvio was great fun but I'm happy to forget offloading the thing back at Dover down a very steep ferry ramp with no brakes after a pipe burst. Hair raising but the staff seemed to enjoy it. A quick botch in Halfords carpark and then straight up the road without further incident.

Cheaper than car hire too. I bought it for £300 then sold it for the same 3 months later inclusive of bright orange wrap, Dixie horns and Confederate flag.
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Thu 23 Mar 2017 08:28
motoring fines in France - catsdad
You were lucky in France as the toll roads time your journey between booths and the police will fine you if that indicates you've been speeding. Bit like average speed cameras.


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Thu 23 Mar 2017 08:39
motoring fines in France - SLO76
You were lucky in France as the toll roads time your journey between booths and the police will fine you if that indicates you've been speeding. Bit like average speed cameras.

Wasn't aware of that. They must be raking it in though as we were far from the fastest moving motor on the road, the locals pelt along them. Is this a recent development? Our trip was around 3yrs ago. Maybe we did rack up penalties but they also didn't find their way to us. They do have a much more realistic and sensible speed limit on these roads than we do though at 130kph or 81mph and lane discipline is excellent plus I still don't know why we don't do the same as the French and ban HGV's from overtaking on any road with less than three lanes, the difference it makes to progress is phenomenal.

Edited by SLO76 on 23/03/2017 at 08:43

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Thu 23 Mar 2017 10:16
motoring fines in France - catsdad
Well I had heard about the time between tolls risk several times and taken it as fact. Doing a quick google this morning however the consensus is it's an urban myth! Rest easy then on that one!
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Thu 23 Mar 2017 11:33
motoring fines in France - jc2

+1

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Thu 23 Mar 2017 13:47
motoring fines in France - Ethan Edwards

I'd cancel the credit card used to rent the car. Otherwise our Gallic chums will be looting it soon enough.

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Thu 23 Mar 2017 19:02
motoring fines in France - focussed

It's not an urban myth about the time between tolls. It's not an absolute thing, only if there happens to be a mobile brigade gendarme parked up the other side of the toll who may pull you in and check your toll ticket times when you may get a ticket.

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Thu 23 Mar 2017 21:05
motoring fines in France - Smileyman

I got stopped in France on the motorway 100 miles from Calais, driving at 150kph, police car with radar gun hidden roadside .... €45 fine and on my way! Just noticed this was July 2009!

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Fri 24 Mar 2017 20:38
motoring fines in France - Smileyman

I was stopped by a roadside "trap" - they showed me their radar gun and the speed reading ... not the greatest feeling to be driving and be overtaken by a blue light flashing police car!

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Fri 24 Mar 2017 09:09
motoring fines in France - jc2

If you're fined by police after a toll gate,it's likely that you were clocked speeding by another police vehicle either on a bridge before the tolls or tucked away else where and your reg. number radio'd to a car after the tollgate.

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Fri 24 Mar 2017 21:12
motoring fines in France - Manatee

Many years since I was pulled over by a bold gendarme on one of those long, straight rural roads in western France. Holding my licence by the corner with the tips of his index finger and thumb, he waved it at me and said "If zis was a Frocnh leesonce Ah would keep zis!", dropped it into my lap and stomped off.

I was just glad he hadn't shot me. I wasn't used to armed police.

Edited by Manatee on 24/03/2017 at 21:31

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Fri 24 Mar 2017 22:08
motoring fines in France - focussed

If you get nicked in france as a non-resident for silly speeding- ie really taking the p***, the gendarmes can and will confiscate your UK licence so you can't carry on your journey. You have to make alternative arrangements and they post the licence back to your home address in UK.

If as a resident I get nicked for silly speeding - I would have to change to a french licence which makes it possible for them to subtract points , with a UK licence they don't bother for minor offences ( it's the other way round over here, you start with 12 points).

Don't worry about the gun thing over here - they are not noted for being triggger happy.

Edited by focussed on 24/03/2017 at 22:10

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