Driving in France - Beware

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Sun 21 Jul 2013 23:52
Driving in France - Beware - Big John

I've just come back from a great holiday in France - however I witnessed a Gendarme sting exercise in a major service station whilst driving south between Calais and Rouen. There were a few blue Gendarme cars/vans and a double decker car transporter full of cars - some with roof boxes etc.. and as far as I could see as I nervously drove past ALL the cars were from the UK. They were also in the process of "dealing" with another car. I suspect lots of ruined holidays.

Speaking to another couple on the camp site I was staying at they were stopped at the large fuel station near to the Eurotunnel. It appears if you have a SatNav attached to you windscreen you were being questioned further. Not sure if this is related to what I witnessed.

P.S. The new overhead gantries that seem to have appeared on all major roads are used for a new HGV road tax system.

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Mon 22 Jul 2013 01:12
Driving in France - Beware - Bromptonaut

Speed camera warnings via SatNav are illegal in France though I thought this was well known.

I'd guess is was something to do with that.

While happy to push the envelope a little in this country doing it abroad where law tends to be (a) digital and (b) enforced with instant fines is a bit daft.

But pehaps not everybody reads up before travel.

Reminds me though, my Bip'n'go transponder for the telepeage needs mounting on the windscreen.

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Mon 22 Jul 2013 04:50
Driving in France - Beware - oldroverboy.

My garmin can switch off camera alerts and I have no fear about explaining to the little darlings in "french" that "ca ne marche pas". I also have the alerts on my very ordinary looking nokia 5230 which sits in the console tray and functions nicely too. While some see it as a sport, the gendarmes are just as bad when they do sting operations with the french, such as driving a car at excessive speed to "encourage" others to follow them, (and who gets nicked?)

The best defence is to follow the rules, and anyway nowadays I find the 130kph/85 ish mph is plenty fast enough for me and cruze.(plus the cost of petrol in europe) AND it keeps SWMBO happy. Had a very pleasant 5 days recently 1300 miles, stuck to limits, and fuel economy at those limits was 38mpg overall, the previous epica on same trip was 40mpg, but the epica needed more oil changes and servicing, insurance was more.

I dislike paying mottoring taxes (sorry fines) so now being more aware, be it driving or parking..

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Mon 22 Jul 2013 14:27
Driving in France - Beware - brum

The concept of reducing driver information smacks of gross stupidity and obvious money making scam.

Do they also paint their cameras grey and hide them behind bushes at bottoms of hills?

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Mon 22 Jul 2013 15:11
Driving in France - Beware - focussed

The gendarmes and national police are allowed to ask you if you have speed camera alerts on your GPS. Just answer no, They are not allowed to enter or search your car or fiddle with the gps without a warrant, however the customs police, the Douane can search the car and mess about with the satnav. Local knowledge says to activate the password function on the sat nav so that when it's switched off they cannot access it without the password which you have forgotten.

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Mon 22 Jul 2013 19:59
Driving in France - Beware - Big John

I wonder if they had the Douane involved as part of the operation. There were a LOT of cars on that transporter.

It put me off stopping at any more service stations for a rest in France. Mine is legal but didn't want that conversation!

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Mon 22 Jul 2013 21:50
Driving in France - Beware - focussed

Gendarmes and police officers have no right to check the contents of radar warning devices or GPS equipment, be it built in car GPS, smartphone or whatever they do not have the right to examine it ! A French lawyer advised that Motorists should formally deny that a police officer or Gendarme examines their smartphone or GPS device.

It appears that the French government wants more money from the motorists, hence the new law. In practice it is very difficult indeed for them to enforce, I find it difficult to imagine how anyone could be prosecuted for this offence unless they admit to using a radar warning device.

Remember that the French gendarmes and police operate under a much stricter set of rules than the UK police - they cannot make the law up as they go along as some UK police forces seem to do.

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Mon 22 Jul 2013 16:21
Driving in France - Beware - Bromptonaut

The concept of reducing driver information smacks of gross stupidity and obvious money making scam.

Do they also paint their cameras grey and hide them behind bushes at bottoms of hills?

Does losing the 'ping' for a camera really really reduce driver information. Or more likely, is it allowing drivers to play hookey with lmits. And yes the French do paint cameras grey though they're usually right by the road and with warning signs.

We're quick enough to call for 'on the spot fines' for foreigners breaking our laws. Sauce for the Goose etc.

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Mon 22 Jul 2013 21:09
Driving in France - Beware - FP

"Do they also paint their cameras grey and hide them behind bushes at bottoms of hills?"

Many of them are indeed grey and are little low boxes - quite insignificant.

Here's a picture:

frenchformation.blogspot.co.uk/2011_01_01_archive....l

The warning signs look like this:

ukfrancebikers.com/2010/07/28/speed-cameras-scrapp.../

The wording in the first example ("Pour votre sécurité - contrôles automatiques") means "For your safety - automatic (speed) checks" and in the second (" Pour votre sécurité - contrôles radars fréquents" means "For your safety - frequent radar (speed) checks".

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Mon 22 Jul 2013 22:14
Driving in France - Beware - greenhey

I am always amazed at how few UK drivers either have euro plates or a GB sticker when they are on the continent.

From my last few trips, I'd say it's as many as 20%.

It's pretty rare to see say a French or Dutch car without their correct plates.

It can't be the cost, or ignorance that it's needed. I can only assume it's simple arrogance

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Tue 23 Jul 2013 11:03
Driving in France - Beware - Bromptonaut

I am always amazed at how few UK drivers either have euro plates or a GB sticker when they are on the continent.

From my last few trips, I'd say it's as many as 20%.

It's pretty rare to see say a French or Dutch car without their correct plates.

It can't be the cost, or ignorance that it's needed. I can only assume it's simple arrogance

Mostly arrogance I think as is doing nothing to adjust headlamp beams.

Also there's that British anti EU thing that refuses to use the EU style plate.

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Tue 23 Jul 2013 13:31
Driving in France - Beware - Armitage Shanks {p}

It is absolutely unknown to see any continental car fitted with beam deflectors, when driving over here. Are their beams perhaps flat topped rather than "up" on the nearside?

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Tue 23 Jul 2013 13:44
Driving in France - Beware - jc2

Deflectors are available and are made by the same firm that makes the UK to EU ones.

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Tue 23 Jul 2013 20:27
Driving in France - Beware - Armitage Shanks {p}

Deflectors for LHD cars may well exist but they are not being bought and their absence is not noted or acted upon upon by Pold-U-Like

Edited by Armitage Shanks {p} on 23/07/2013 at 20:28

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Wed 24 Jul 2013 08:12
Driving in France - Beware - oldroverboy.

Deflectors for LHD cars may well exist but they are not being bought and their absence is not noted or acted upon upon by Pold-U-Like

I always have a set of the stick on variety of beam deflectors in the car, which are universal, for LHD or RHD. I don't fit them because i don't drive at night in europe, as when we go. it is for leisure.

The deflectors are in the car to be able to comply should i be asked by polizei or gendarme-u-like, and i can reply in their language, which with a smile and apology has worked in the past on every occasion to avoid a penalty for minor infringements, just like plod-u-like used to be here before cameras took over everything.

But, as here in Blighty, best way to avoid the fines is to have the bits in the car, (hi viz etc etc etc...AND be nice to them. Again after driving here, 130KPH is plenty for me on a leisure break.

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Wed 24 Jul 2013 08:25
Driving in France - Beware - Big John

How about passing through tunnels - you are required to turn on you headlights in these during the day.

Fortunately my Superb has a little lever in each headlight unit to flatten the beam. (not in manual - found after a few years of fitting stick on deflectors).

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Wed 24 Jul 2013 17:38
Driving in France - Beware - FP

"How about passing through tunnels - you are required to turn on you headlights in these during the day."

Indeed - I had forgotten about that. For those who don't do French, the signs say "Allumez vos feux". ("Switch on your lights.")

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Wed 24 Jul 2013 23:57
Driving in France - Beware - focussed

If you are stopped for a "controle" (inspection) in France and ALL your paperwork, numberplates, GB plates etc are in order, and you have all the required stuff on board,ie hi-vis jackets, warning triangle, breathalyser, spare bulbs, V5, insurance, licence etc you are likely to be politely warned about something you may have overlooked and sent on your way.

Basic rule No 1 :-

Never argue or dispute anything with a French police officer or gendarme.

Basic rule no 2:-

Refer to rule1.

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Thu 25 Jul 2013 13:22
Driving in France - Beware - geoff1248
A couple of points on this thread. I am happy to be proved wrong but as far as I am aware it is not longer necessary to carry breathalyser kits. While it is still on French statute for various reasons there is now no penalty for not carrying the kit.
Regarding the sat. nav speed camera point it was debated on another forum just exactly what the French law stated. One suggestion was that the law stated that it was illegal to have a device which was capable of "detecting" speed cameras. If that is the case then very few sat navs actually detect, locations are downloaded in advance with no real time detection.
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Thu 25 Jul 2013 16:52
Driving in France - Beware - FP

"...as far as I am aware it is not longer necessary to carry breathalyser kits. While it is still on French statute for various reasons there is now no penalty for not carrying the kit."

I also read this somewhere.

As regards the satnav/speed camera issue, I believe it has been illegal to have a device actually to detect a live speed camera in France for many years. ASFAIK, in January 2012 legislation went further and banned a satnav from showing speed camera locations. However, it is OK for a satnav to show "zones de danger"*, which in practice will probably include one speed camera, or maybe more, as well as accident black spots, and will be several hundred metres long, or maybe even several thousand metres. The position of any speed camera is therefore not precisely indicated.

It is therefore important that you download any updates relating to this, particularly if your satnav dates from before January 2012.

*Technically called "Zones de Vigilance Accrue", meaning "Zones of Increased Vigilance", I believe.

Edited by FP on 25/07/2013 at 16:53

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Fri 26 Jul 2013 00:45
Driving in France - Beware - Big John

I've also read that having a GPS speed camera locator (Sat Nav, Smart phone etc....)is now classed as a very serious offence.

I'm not 100% sure that the sting was related to Satnavs other than speaking to other people who had been questioned elsewhere. However the fact remained there was a double decker car transporter next to the Gendarmes full of UK cars - some with roof boxes/bike racks etc.. - unlikely to have been pulled for excessive speeding

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