Daktari
-
Posts
36 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Never
Posts posted by Daktari
-
-
Having recently booked a gite in Vaucluse for next June, and told my daughter (who lives just outside Southampton & gets terribly car-sick if travelling for more than an hour) that she & our grand-daughter could fly to Avignon & join us, I was very concerned to see that there was no mention of the So'ton - Avignon route on the Flybe web-site for next year.We are all hoping that the full schedules do indeed show that the flights will still be operating next summer.I will certainly contact Flybe and add my 2p worth - for what good it may do!
-
Obviously to get her MOT, your daughter can't wait until she travels to France...
![Whistles [Www]](../images/emotions/whistling.gif)
- but in my experience tyre prices are usually significantly cheaper in France than UK - as are many motor parts.
-
" at a couple of points narrows to 1 lane over a couple of viaducts"True - and these have reduced speed limits & are favourite spots for the gendarmerie to set up mobile speed-traps!
-
Just be careful not to stray onto the motorway system inadvertently - they do not have pay-as-you-go toll-booths, but require your car to display a sticker called a "vignette".This costs CHF 40 & must be displayed in the prescribed manner by each vehicle (including motorcycles, trailers and caravans) using Swiss motorways and semi-motorways. Fine for non-display cost of vignette(s) 100CHF. You can buy these at customs offices at the border or at service stations or POs - but if you are just enjoying the scenery I would steer clear of the autoroutes, although I have once or twice found that a country road just seems to take me onto an autoroute against my wishes!
-
Here is a link to another article on the topic of the legality of speed camera location devices - as opposed to active radar detectorshttp://www.navi-mag.com/index.php?action=article&id_article=180964I hope that the gendarmes are "up to speed" on the distinction [:D]
-
"Having 4X4 cars is actually brilliant as they arefar safer to drive than any two wheel drive. I am not talking aboutsize and bull bars but just take any four wheel drive car in to a nicefield and try skidding it around a bit then do the same in a two wheeldrive car, bet I know which one you feel safe in."An interesting process of deduction Quillan! For most of us I would suggest that our driving is not done "skidding around a bit in a nice field" - but on the streets & highways where all the evidence suggests that most 4x4's are significantly less safe than "normal" cars due to their higher centre of gravity & mode of construction. Having to swerve suddenly at speed in a 4x4 is much more likely to cause the vehicle to roll than a saloon car, whilst in an accident they are far more likely to cause death or serious injury to the occupants of another vehicle than in a crash between two saloons.UK insurance companies are very aware of these additional risks (based on statistics not emotional arguments): recent figures from Churchill show that urban4x4s are involved in 25% more accidents than saloon cars and do farmore damage. Admiral Insurance also recently released figuresshowing that 4x4 drivers are 27% more likely to be at fault in theevent of an accident.I would agree that these arguments don't apply to 4 wheel transmission on a saloon platform, such as the Audi, Subaru or Megane - but the issue not really with these vehicles but the Land-Rover / Toyota / Jeep type "Utility vehicles" that are wonderful as working vehicles on a farm - and totally inappropriate on the road[;)]
-
why motor-cyclists in France stick a leg out & "shake it all about" when overtaking [;)]Now I know .... http://portal.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?xml=/global/2006/01/28/pfolie28.xml&DCMP=EMC-exp_30012006A few other helpful observations on French driving also listed!
-
Comments that a GPS unit does not rely on radar & cannot be used to actively detect speed cameras are of course correct.One possible difference between a GPS unit with speed camera locations loaded into its memory & a road atlas is that whilst the Atlas is almost by definition out-of-date by the time it is published, & only displays known fixed camera locations, the GPS unit can be updated with new camera locations and will display not only the fixed locations but also the commonly used mobile camera sites (I think that we all tend to know the sites frequently used locally, but not when we are travelling further afield).Although we might imagine that mobile speed cams are around every corner, in practice there tend to be a limited number of these sites due to considerations of sight-lines, parking, etc [;)]
-
As a new convert to Sat-Nav (got one for Christmas with pan-European maps [:D]) - and also a confirmed mapaholic, can I just say for those who have never tried Sat-Nav that it is wonderful, even for areas that one knows quite well. Just a few of the joys of Sat-Nav are: 1 - You can dive down a narrow lane that you've driven past for years, "follow your nose", explore by-ways - and the Sat-Nav will always be indicating the direct route back to your intended destination once you've indulged your urge to explore the backwoods!2 - It gives a far more accurate reading of your actual speed than the car speedometer (these are generally calibrated at manufacture to read 5-7% higher than your true speed.3 - It will highlight (visually / audibly) "points of Interest" en-route, which may be how to find the nearest Super-U or the location of speed cams along your path!4 - It is far safer to use than a map when one is driving alone (or with a navigator who shall remain nameless but who struggles to differentiate between left & right [:P])As they say - don't knock it until you've tried it.
-
Having recently purchased a Sat-Nav system & the option of loadingas POIs ("points of interest" !) the location of known speed cameras,this thread is of direct personal interest as I drive in France quiteregularly. Neither my French nor my knowledge of legal matters are up to much -but I have downloaded the relevant article of the official French "Codede la Route" which reads as follows at the bottom of this rather longfirst post[:#]:My question for a better French speaker / lawyer than I is whether thisactually does make Sat-Nav GPS legal or not - what does it mean to déceler laprésence ou perturber le fonctionnement - I take it as reading to detect the presence or disturb the function of .... Does this really only include active radar detectors or are GPS Sat-Navs effectively included?Article R413-15(Décret nº 2003-642 du 11 juillet 2003 art. 5 VI Journal Officiel du 12 juillet 2003)
I.- Le fait de détenir ou de transporter un appareil, dispositif ouproduit de nature ou présenté comme étant de nature à déceler laprésence ou perturber le fonctionnement d'appareils, instruments ousystèmes servant à la constatation des infractions à la législation ouà la réglementation de la circulation routière ou de permettre de sesoustraire à la constatation desdites infractions est puni de l'amendeprévue pour les contraventions de la cinquième classe.Le fait de faire usage d'un appareil, dispositif ou produit de même nature est puni des mêmes peines.
II. - Cet appareil, ce dispositif ou ce produit est saisi. Lorsquel'appareil, le dispositif ou le produit est placé, adapté ou appliquésur un véhicule, ce véhicule peut également être saisi.
III. - Toute personne coupable de l'infraction prévue au présentarticle encourt également les peines complémentaires suivantes :1º La peine complémentaire de suspension, pour une durée de trois ansau plus, du permis de conduire, cette suspension pouvant être limitée àla conduite en dehors de l'activité professionnelle ;2º La confiscation du véhicule, lorsque le dispositif qui a servi ouétait destiné à commettre l'infraction est placé, adapté ou appliquésur un véhicule.Toute condamnation donne lieu de plein droit à la confiscation dudispositif qui a servi ou était destiné à commettre l'infraction.
IV. - Cette contravention donne lieu de plein droit à la réduction de deux points du permis de conduire.
Flybe Southampton Avignon
in Travelling to/from France
Posted