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Peage barriers


CeeJay
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I shall be driving on my own from Montpellier to Calais tomorrow and the thought occurred to me that I may have a problem when it comes to the Peage, in that my car is right hand drive and, of course, the payment booths are on the left.

I have always tended in the past to go through the credit card caisse, but is that possible having to lean over and therefore take more time than usual.

Therefore can anyone tell me if the barriers are time constrained or have a system that allows a vehicle to pass and then drop down for the following vehicle.

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I've got a RHD and I have gone through the barriers many times, getting out of the car (cos I'm small), paying by card, getting back in, etc.

Never experienced any problems.  Except (there's always an "except") when I drove here the first time ever, never having met a peage before, didn't have the right money and didn't realise the machines took cards![:-))]

No sophistication, moi!

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If you can't reach the card slot (or clerk in the kiosk) by leaning over, then open your car door, get out and walk round. Then walk back, get in and drive off. I've done it hundreds of times.

The barrier will open and stay open until you have driven through - the passage of your vehicle will be detected by sensors.

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[quote user="Ceejay"]I shall be driving on my own from Montpellier to Calais tomorrow and the thought occurred to me that I may have a problem when it comes to the Peage, in that my car is right hand drive and, of course, the payment booths are on the left.
I have always tended in the past to go through the credit card caisse, but is that possible having to lean over and therefore take more time than usual.
Therefore can anyone tell me if the barriers are time constrained or have a system that allows a vehicle to pass and then drop down for the following vehicle.
[/quote]

The easy way round this problem is to get a "Doofer", we got one from Alis, no charge no contract. Only thing is, I believe you must have a French bank account. It's so simple, you pay by direct debit and they send you an invoice. No getting out the car, no leaning over, perfect.

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Thank you all so much for your replies, I feel a lot more confident now.

NickP, the 'Doofer' sounds a good idea, can you give me more information on how to apply to Alis. I have actually looked up Alis and it seems that it only does the Alencon to Rouen link.

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I thought Alis did all over the country, like the rest. Ours is an ASF, which we got at Nordauto, which has a lot of branches - it's a sort of Halfords. You can also get them on some  autoroutes at the peage. It costs 2 euros each month, but the doofer was free. We needed bank details, as you pay by direct debit, and I think a utility bill and maybe passports, and took only a few minutes. It's great to whizz past the queues and also not to get your arm cold and damp in bad weather!
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[quote user="Ceejay"]Thank you all so much for your replies, I feel a lot more confident now.
NickP, the 'Doofer' sounds a good idea, can you give me more information on how to apply to Alis. I have actually looked up Alis and it seems that it only does the Alencon to Rouen link.
[/quote]

Although Alis only operates the Alecon-Rouen Road Their "doofer" works in all other road systems, and you get a tiny discount on the Rouen Road. You only pay the normal toll charges on other roads and there are no handling charges. When you get your statement it tells you exactly what roads you have used and what  tolls you have incurred, Alis make no monthly charges at all and the "Doofer" is free 

(www.alis-sa.com)

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I use a litter picker upper truc, I saw one on promo that folds in half and thought "that'll do the job" and it does and slips under the seat afterwards.

One day I will sew a little bag on it so that I can use it at the manned booths with change, at the moment I use a debit card at both the auto and manned booths without any problems.

Of course those of you with automatuc braking systems in the passenger seat dont have these problems to overcome.

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[quote user="powerdesal"]but don't leave your engine running when you get out.[/quote]

Good idea. Some months ago, near Toulouse, there was a sign telling you to switch off your cruise control before going through the peage. I hate to think what incident prompted that warning!

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[quote user="Ceejay"]I shall be driving on my own from Montpellier to Calais tomorrow and the thought occurred to me that I may have a problem when it comes to the Peage, in that my car is right hand drive and, of course, the payment booths are on the left.

[/quote]

I've just done almost this journey (from Narbonne to Calais) on my own, with a LHD car admittedly) and the doofer definitely  came into its own, as proved when I arrived in England and had to do just what you say, walk around etc.  The worst was the Dartford tunnel, I had the right money, but couldn't reach (nor could I get out as the channels are very narrow), fortunately a nice man came along and took the money from my outstretched hand!).

Our doofer comes from our local peage team - but works all over the country. 

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Do read the small print when buying any péage badge, there are various tariff options, you need to choose  one which suits your pattern of journeys.

I often drive both RHD and LHD cars on the Toulouse-Bordeaux and Toulouse-le Havre autoroutes and the cheapest option for me is cash or my French carte bancaire. Big deal, so I have to get out and walk around, I need to stretch my legs anyway. Yes, I do this on my own (I'm female) and no, I have no worries - been doing it since 1990.

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I think the Alis doofer is hard to beat as it's truly free and in fact gives a discount if, like me, you use the Autoroute which they run, on a regular basis (or even just very occasionally.) 

AFAIK, only one of Alis's peages is actually manned - they obviously understand the value of automation more than some of the more traditional operators and promote their "doofers" accordingly.

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[quote user="Polly"]Do read the small print when buying any péage badge, there are various tariff options, you need to choose  one which suits your pattern of journeys.

[/quote]Apart from the local operators such as Alis and their specific discounts in terms of running expense I am not aware of there being much to chose between the big operators.

I paid a €30 refundable deposit for my SANEF doofer and only pay the €2 monthly rental for months when I actually use it. It gives no discounts on cash rates.

You can apply for one using a UK bank A/C but best use Nationwide to avoid exchange rate rip off's.

As an aside, it's surprising how the péage fees mount up over time. We recently analysed our costs over the 3.5 years we have been here (8 months to and froing with a big trailer doing our own move whilst we sold in UK and nearly 3 years in residence) and it came to over €600. There were 2 return trips to Germany in that, one was with the trailer too so a particularly expensive trip, but it's still shocked us how much we'd spent.

Who says there is no road tax in France !

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Exactly, AnOther : autoroutes are expensive enough and I for one am not going to pay for any sort of doofer until it becomes compulsory!

I'm quite happy to get out of the car and walk round to pay if I'm in our of our RHD vehicles, I always give an apologetic shrug, with a smile, to anyone waiting behind me.

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Even if the autoroute operators were to insist on the use of a  transponder (I refuse to use that other ridiculous term) so that they could reduce their staffing it still would not in effect be compulsory as we all have a choice whether to pay and use the péages or use the normal autoroutes and roads for free.

As part of my ongoing economy regime I have all but stopped using them, there is very little traffic on most French roads so progress is rapid but for any significant journey it can still take twice as long. What gets me is the price people are willing to pay to use just one section of the autoroute of say 5 or 10 kms, its a couple of Euros and will save at best 10 minutes.

It is dependant on the volatile oil market but currently to use the péage doubles the cost of my journey (my diesel) and if I am towing my large trailer then it goes up 2.5 times.

We would all sqwawk if the price of diesel went up to over €2 per litre yet effectively that is what our journeys cost us when we decide to take the autoroute.

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[quote user="Polly"]Exactly, AnOther : auto routes are expensive enough and I for one am not going to pay for any sort of doofer until it becomes compulsory!
I'm quite happy to get out of the car and walk round to pay if I'm in our of our RHD vehicles, I always give an apologetic shrug, with a smile, to anyone waiting behind me.
[/quote]

Polly, as stated earlier Alis doofers cost nothing, and as long as you are happy to sit behind loads of British tourists in the summer months all giving an apologetic shrug and a smile, fair does to you, enjoy the time wasted at the peage. I'm quite happy to slip quickly past you and continue my journey. [:D]

As for Chancer being too mean to spend any money on the auto route, once again thats your choice mate, but driving from Le Mans to Calais on the secondary roads behind all those Spanish lorries I don't think so ?  life's too short  [:P]

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I'd add that Alis doofers cost nothing initially, and do not involve a monthly charge either. In the past you have also got a free gift from them when you get it (I think it was a yellow gilet). How can you lose? You can also swap it between cars: anyone can use it though of course the payments get taken from the owners bank account.

But I would reiterate the bit about switching off the engine before getting out of the car to go to the credit card slot.

There are very often gendarmes at peage barriers and there is somewhere a perhaps apocryphal story about a driver getting two fines (plus points on/off the licence) at once: one for not wearing a seat belt when the engine was running, and the other for leaving the car while the engine was running. The barrier will stay up until your car is out from underneath it.

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As well as sailing past queues, I love our doofer because I no longer get wet when using my credit card in the pay machines. When the rain is coming at you horizontally and goes up your arm it's not much fun, especially when the machine decides to play up!

By the way, we paid nothing for the doofer at Nordauto, we just pay th €2 each month - which we think is a small price to pay.  [:)]

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Have had the Alis doofer for a while.

As has been said, works all over France, no deposit, no monthly charge, has worked without fail and statements have been spot on. Can't see any reason not to have one, or to get one elsewhere.

But if folks want to muck around at peages or pay for something they can get completely free, that's up to them.

Website www.offres-alis.com  But if you search forum, you should find a post with the email address of English-speaking lady (Catherine?) who I recall organised everything for me. Doofer - plus free gifts - came by return of post.

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[quote user="Théière"]

 

I am up for the Alis one, now where to obtain it?

[/quote]The link's in Nick's post on page 1 but here it is again:

http://www.alis-sa.com/

Like Alan, I can't see the downside of having something which  costs nothing and saves me time.  And I got a free high viz jacket as said above.

Talking of Alan, did you edit your post as I was typing or am I going (even more) nuts?[:-))]

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