Speeding question

[Holly1]

Hi all, hope someone can help me here.

My husband recently got caught by a speed camera. He was driving our French registered car, so received a fixed fine, which we have paid, thereby admitting the offence. The notice also says that he will automatically receive points on his licence. However, he still has a British licence. Does anyone know what happens in this situation please? Do the French authorities write to us here if they find they have no record of a French licence? Do they write to the DVLA? Does the whole thing just disappear into on end of the system and never come out at the other?

Surely someone has been in this position before?

Looking forward to your replies

Holly

[BJSLIV]

If you are now living in France permanently your husband will now be required to change his UK license for a French one so that they can pop on the points, or more precisely deduct them.

[Alan]

Got stopped on Tuesday by the gendarmes for speeding. Produced my european licence, only to be told this must be changed to a french one, told him the prefecture would not change it as i had tried 3 years ago to do so. The reply was OH well they will now as we have to give you the points.Was told the prefecture would write to me, have also been told that i might also get a fine for not having a french licence , but not sure how true this is

[chicfille]

Drivers with UK licences no longer have to swap it for a French one when they move to France to live. The law changed sometime in the late 1990s, and exchange is now voluntary, unless you commit an offence:

L'échange contre un permis français devient également obligatoire dans le cas d'un infraction commise sur le territoire français pouvant entraîner une mesure: 

• de suspension, restriction, annulation du permis, 

• de perte de points

(from www.service-public.fr - click on Transports, Permis de Conduire, then the bit about EU licences)

So you'll be having fun at the Préfecture then!

Note that the French points system the opposite of the UK system in that you start with a full set of 12 points (I think it's 12) and they some off if you commit an offence. Zero points = a ban.

[Holly1]

[quote]Drivers with UK licences no longer have to swap it for a French one when they move to France to live. The law changed sometime in the late 1990s, and exchange is now voluntary, unless you commit an of...[/quote]

Hi everyone, thanks for your replies. We too had tried to change our licences but were told that it was not necessary, something which I have confirmed since on various websites. Looks like it is now!  We will leave it for a while and see if they write to us, but if not I think we should bite the bullet and head off to the prefecture. Thanks in particular for the link to www.service-public.fr I had found various other sites dealing with the changing of the licence issue, but had not come across this one.

I don't know about other areas (we are in the north of Dordogne) but there has been a noticeable increase in gendarmes checking for speeding around here, and new cameras are appearing. I always make an effort to keep to speed limits but it is easy to get caught out. I suspect alot more people are going to find themselves in this position in the coming months.

Sorry about the quote at the top, I put in the wrong bit by mistake and can't work out how to take it out again

Thanks again everyone

Holly

[Baz]

"Sorry about the quote at the top, I put in the wrong bit by mistake and can't work out how to take it out again"

Holly, If you just click on the edit button next to your posting then you can correct,add or even delete.

Baz

[Holly1]

Hi Baz, thanks for that, don't know why I didn't spot it, easy when you know how!

Holly

[Boatyard]

What is the situation if you are caught speeding, and you have a french reg car but an english license?

boatyard

[a.foreman]

That was the question in the first place 

[Holly1]

[quote]What is the situation if you are caught speeding, and you have a french reg car but an english license? boatyard[/quote]

You haven't been reading very closely have you? That was exactly what happened to us. My husband was caught by a camera in a French registered car so we automatically received the penalty notice with notification of the fine and the points. I don't know what would happen if you were stopped by the gendarmes these days, but you would be within your rights to tell them that it was legal to be using a British licence if they questioned it. It appears they they could insist that you change it for a French one. My friend was stopped some time ago and just paid the instant fine, they didn't question her British licence, perhaps they couldn't be bothered with the paperwork??

Another point worth mentioning I think. If your French registered car is registered in joint names, the notice will go to the person named first on the Carte Grise. The penalty notice comes with a form which you have to send back if someone else was driving. This might be worth remembering for people deciding whose name to register the car in. I guess they should choose either the person who will be the main driver or the one who is most likely to be caught speeding

Holly

[Boatyard]

Andy,yes i did read the question in the first place.However what i should have said is what if you live in the uk with a french reg car and uk license

boatyard

[Alan]

I must admit I did wonder for 2 seconds when I was stopped what would happen if I had told the gendarmes that I lived in England. At the time I was stopped I was driving a friends hire car ( I was a named driver) had my uk passport on me and the uk licence. But I could not bring myself to say so , so I  just handed over my titre de sejour

[Patf]

I think I read somewhere that there are some new regulations soon to come in to cover a situation like this. The french police would pass on the information to their british counterparts and you would have to take your licence to be endorsed in the uk. Pat.

[Ron Avery]

[quote]I think I read somewhere that there are some new regulations soon to come in to cover a situation like this. The french police would pass on the information to their british counterparts and you would...[/quote]

Pat

These days you have to send your license to the DVLA for "endorsement".  If you haven't got one of the new "photocard" style licenses you have to get one, so you have to send photos etc as well.  This is so that they can put your endorsements on your old paper one  Which you have to keep together with the photocard license as one is not valid without the other

Even the French find having to have "two" licenses a bit odd

I bet millions of UK drivers now have the new card style license by default as a result of the rash of cameras and speed guns in the UK.   What was it 1.5 million speeding tickets issued in the UK last year? 

 

[Iceni]

"I bet millions of UK drivers now have the new card style license by default as a result of the rash of cameras and speed guns in the UK.   What was it 1.5 million speeding tickets issued in the UK last year? "

Ron - or it may be linked to the refusal/inability of UK drivers to obey speed limits ? Perhaps another example of "Nobody tells me what to do". Whether or not the speed limits are justified is irrelevant, these are the rules. IMHO an excellent means of raising revenue (and yes, I have received one speeding ticket because I was NOT paying attention) but no doubt those of you with phallic substitutes will be up in arms at my comments.

John

not

[Coco]

My husband recently got one of these speed camera fines, which we paid online but wondered what happened about the deduction of the point.  Now I know!  It's really annoying to lose the point as he was doing 75kph on a dual carriageway (110kph limit) that dropped to a 70 limit for about 300m (we still can't work out why, other than to catch people out!!!)

What happens when you get down to 0 and get a ban?  How long does the ban last and is it right that you have to retake your test to get it back?  Not that he foresees losing another 11 points of course - mainly curiosity.

[Holly1]

[quote]My husband recently got one of these speed camera fines, which we paid online but wondered what happened about the deduction of the point. Now I know! It's really annoying to lose the point as he wa...[/quote]

Did your husband have a French or a British licence? If British, did "they" write to you about the point please?  Sorry to hear he was caught out like that.

Holly

gite in Dordogne

http://la-plaine.chez.tiscali.fr

[Simon]

Can you have a French address on a UK license?

Regards

S

[Holly1]

[quote]Can you have a French address on a UK license?RegardsS[/quote]

No, you can't, you have to leave a British postal address on the licence. If you tried to give a French address they would tell you to change the licence to a French one.

 

Holly

http@//la-plaine.chez.tiscali.fr/

 

[Coco]

My husband's licence is a French one; and for the very reason you state Holly, you can't have a French address on a UK licence.  Or any address outside the UK.  I don't understand how some people seem to keep their UK licences when they live here permanently because there is also a £1000 fine for not updating your UK licence with a current address.

Regarding the points.  With a French licence apparently they deduct the point automatically and presumably don't let you know they have done it because on the notification of the fine it also said that it is not their responsibility to keep you updated on how many points you have left on your licence.  You have to apply to find this out.  Don't know if they write to you about adding one to your UK licence.

[Miki]

You can find out how many points you have remaining on your licence by asking at the sous prefecture or prefecture.

 

[Jonzjob]

Is there any truth in what I have heard that if you change to a French licence you can't tow a caravan, as there is a 750 Kg towing limit. Also on my U.K. licence I can drive a truck up to 7.5 tons and I would loose this if I changed over to a French one ?

Another thing that the Gendarmes are VERY keen on is people who don't come to a complete and I mean complete stop at stop signs. Even on the most minor roads! Instant 90€ fine and points off... So take care, it's a junjle out there !!!

John.

[Richard-R]

I'm sad to say, but France is getting more and more like the U.K. Speed cameras to make money. Only ever seem to see them on open roads with a broken white line. If that section is prone to accidents why not make it a solid white line. They also seem to set up the radar stations after the new posted speed signs. So you are meant to go from 90 to 70 in a blink of an eye and not worry about getting rear ended. I wish they would crack down on urban/ village speeding where most people/animals are injured and once they have fixed that then do main N roads.

[0BRIAN WOODHEADI,m here in franceddMMyyyy0Falseen-USI,m here in franceTrue]

Jonsgob,being an avid caravaner the problem you speak of is due the insurance,unless you tell your french insurance(that is if one is living in france)you will be pulling a caravan over the 750kg limit you will not be insured,but if you are pulling a brit van and have brit insurance no problem.

The french rules on what is or is not an hgv is not like the UK ,in the UK anyone can drive a van/truck up to 7.5ton on a full licence,in france a I believe the same van would be an hgv and a hgv licence would be needed.So if you did have the french permis you could lose the right to drive a 7.5tonner.

 

 

[Jonzjob]

I see the insults are flying again from certain quarters, mainly from people who can't, or won't read or spell. I sold our caravan in the U.K. before we came over TO LIVE in France! When we have explored the area we now LIVE IN we hope to get another caravan to explore other parts of France that we have not seen in the previous 20 years of holidays here. Why do you have to be so offensive? Didn't you have any toys as a child?

I asked a reasonable question, hoping to get a reasonable answer, but all I have from you, as an OUTCAST, is abuse. I always make sure that anything that I do as far as driving is concerned is properly covered by the correct insurance and with my licence and insurance I can drive up to a 7.5 tonner legally with my licence and I am able to do so!

I passed both of my driving tests 1st time, normal and ADVANCED! Did you? Unfortunately though, unlike some people, I don't know all the answers and I prefere to ask for advice that will help me. Normaly the folks on this forum help?

"I,m here in france"

So am I, but I don't have to bleat about it every time I put a post on here. By the way the inverted comma is so called because it goes at the top. Top, look towards the sky!

John.

P.S. Why is it that so many people don't/won't put their name on a post?