Speeding fine

[CeeJay]

Just been a naughty boy and received an Avis de Contravention for being caught in a radar trap going 98kph instead of 90kph. This is the first time for me in France and I have never been caught in UK in 50 years driving. Hey ho, no complaints, but what happens to the driving licence if I have to have points deducted, do I have to send it somewhere or just wait for instructions. Presumably no one would bother for just the 1 point for 6months?

[Patf]

Is your license a french one or a british one? If it's british probably nothing will happen if you only get one penalty point. It's only if you do something really bad (ie 3-4 points +) that they tell you to change it for a french one

If it's french they just record it on their computer.

The main thing sign the Avis and send the fine off quickly or they put it up. Or you can pay online.

I wouldn't worry!

[Pierre ZFP]

There's a box on the form to say if a point is to be deducted, it's marked with an X if it is (IIRC)

I would bet that you're safe here

[CeeJay]

Thanks for the replies and yes it is a French licence, so will just sit tight. Just paid the fine on line and was very impressed with the web site, very easy.

[Pierre ZFP]

Reminds me of the Tommy Cooper joke which went something like

'I received a letter. it said 'Parking Fine' so I thought, that's nice'  [:D]

I don't normally like TC but that one tickled me

[Patti7777]

I have just got back from France and on the first day I arrived (9 August) I got a speeding fine - 7 km over the limit!  However, I live in Italy and just received it today (envelope was dated 8 October).    I am therefore outside the 46 days but until today didn't even know I received a fine.  Is there a place on line where I can pay.  I went into the interieur.gouv.fr site but didn't see where I could pay.  Can I still pay the lower amount even though it is over the 46 days?  Thanks for any help.  Patti

[AnOther]

You can pay fines online here:

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

Unfortunately if you have missed the deadline for the reduced amount you will have to pay whatever it is now, that's the whole point of offering a discount for prompt payment !

I'm a little confused though, are you saying that the French have sent a speeding fine to an Italian resident driving an Italian registered car ?

If so how did they get your address ?

[EuroTrash]

I'm not understanding this either. Surely the 46 days is counted from when the fine is issued, not from the date of the contravention?

[andyh4]

Sorry guys but 2+2 does not equal 5.

 

Nowhere does Patti say she was in an Italian registered car.

 

Best guess from my side is that it was a hire car - explains the delay and the fine going to the correct address.

[AnOther]

Can do [:P]

[Théière]

[quote user="andyh4"]

Sorry guys but 2+2 does not equal 5.

 

Nowhere does Patti say she was in an Italian registered car.

 

Best guess from my side is that it was a hire car - explains the delay and the fine going to the correct address.

[/quote]

Quite so Ceejay said it was an Avis [Www]

[Théière]

Bumping this thread back up.

Having recently travelled back and forth and been flashed by several 4-5? ish cameras I wondered if anyone else had been flashed when under the stated speed limit.  After Sunday Driver's comment about reading the signs, I have taken my gaze from the road to the signposts looking hard and concentrating on speed cameras rather than other road users.  Bearing in mind I am in my van 2.2m+ in height but only 3.25tonnes and there are different speeds shown on some signs for 3.5 tonne and above am I being mysteriously picked up by a camera as being the heavier and therefore slower vehicles?

Many of the flashes were driving in areas designated as 110kph and I was only travelling at 94 kph although I was flashed at 116kph in a 130 kph zone.  On a country road I was over taken by a golf who must have still continued at around 90kph without being flashed, then seconds later I was flashed and I was only travelling at around 78kph. It was night time so I could clearly see a flash going off and the golf passed straight through??

Fortunately I have the UK licence otherwise I could see myself being really busy as I protest over and over again that I was travelling under the stated speed, there will come the day when the Euro wally's share information but in the UK it is reasonably easy to plead your case but in France?  I think I will have to go back to my camera database for France be it illegal it may reduce the paperwork in the future.

[AnOther]

AFAIK cameras do not discriminate between different types of vehicles but clearly something odd is going on you are getting flashed as you say. Have you checked your speedo against a sat nav or by other means ?

A good while ago now but I was once flashed by a camera on the motorway just north of Toulouse but I was definitely not exceeding the 110kph limit as I know about the camera for starters and immediately I passed it and it flashed me I looked at both my speedo and satnav the former of which read a needles width unser 120 and the latter 110. I know from long experience that 119 on the speedo does actually mean 110 in actual speed and I have passed innumerable cameras at that speed without incident.

Obviously in this case though the camera was at fault as I never received an infraction notice.

[Théière]

Like you Ernst I checked satnav against speedo and also some of those cameras I know the position of. In the UK you cannot be prosecuted if the camera has not been serviced and accuracy verified according to the detailed schedule of instructions and maintenance. Based on the number of times I have been flashed in France on the last 3 trips If I had a French licence potentially I would have been banned by now. 

The sheer number of cameras appearing everywhere means they cannot possibly service all of them so there must be quite a number of duff ones, certainly enough to warrant challenging the ticket I would think. 

Still it proves one thing, speed camera databases on satnavs prevented me from ever being flashed which means I reduced my speed so making the road safer. I was overtaken many many times by French locals who know intimately the position of the cameras so duck under the limit then accelerate like the clappers after the camera so the net effect is useless but they do raise revenue from poor tourists who don't have their eyes glued to the signs instead of the road and at night you are just taking the sucker punch.

[AnOther]

IIRC there are supposed to be something like 1000 more cameras being installed so we all need to be that bit more attentive.

They claim that since the removal of a lot of radar warning signs prosecutions have increased by 14% but all that tells me is that have made more money on the back of more drivers going even faster than they were before but perhaps they hope they will learn in time.

I also have a bit of a problem with the speed indicator displays which have replaced many warning signs. Since as I've just mentioned all speedos under read by up anything between 5 and 10% from observing these speed displays drivers will quickly realise that the rigid speedo indications they had been sticking to are anything up to 10% slow so will quickly learn where the true limits are and as a consequence will, in many cases, actually end up driving that little bit faster overall !

Can you imagine the outcry from the 'speed kills' brigade and other road safety bodies if a proposal was put forward to increase all speed limits by between 5 to 10% because that in effect is what is happening !

[Théière]

The French indicator signs aren't too bad although I agree entirely with your observation. The UK ones are ridiculous but perhaps to counter what you have observed. Frequently whilst driving at 30 mph the UK signs tell me to slow down and I just want to stick a hatchet into them!  of course at 20mph or 30kph it is much easier to exceed the 10% over and so get a ticket especially if you have an analogue speedo and wear glasses for long range driving vision compared to a digital speedo like some cars (Citroens etc)