stopped by gerdarme

[Clair]

Thanks SD [:D]

[artsole]

yes Sunday driver

but that was my point[:)] you pay 30% less if you pay at the roadside or within that time period. The 'flics' though, generally don't explain this. If you get a speeding fine, stopped by flics, the fine 'normal tarif' may be perhaps 90€, if you pay immediately, you pay 60€ (or within the 3 day period)[;-)]

edit/ Just re-read this, and perhaps my wording is'nt brilliant but perhaps SD and I were going along the same lines but saying it differently[geek]

[Sunday Driver]

I think we're all in agreement now....[;-)]

 

[hoverfrog]

I've never been offered the chance to pay on the spot - it's always stamps from the tabac or send a cheque.

That sounds like I get fined all the time, but only twice!

90 euros for having front tyres on the limit. They passed the contrôle technique 1000 km before but apparently were too near the limit for M gendarme.

45 euros for my trailer having a different registration plate to the car. Oh, and I was supposed to be grateful to the young jobsworth who insisted on fining me (even though his superior advised just a caution!) because he didn't impound the car/trailer.

The local gendarmes have a habit of setting up in our village - and I always get stopped. Next time I'm going to ask if w should "faire le bisous' as we see each other on a regular basis!

[Chancer]

I was fined 90 Euros at the roadside and didnt get a discount of 30%, mind you I had been a very naughty boy and would have had to walk to a cashpoint if I didnt have my cheque book as they were not going to let me drive away.

A cheque for 90 Euros later and I was free to continue (in a more civilised manner) and very very relieved, even if I now have found out that I paid an extra 30% that day.

[AnOther]

[quote user="hoverfrog"]That sounds like I get fined all the time, but only twice!![/quote]Too late to backpeddle now hoverfrog, a total recidivist it sounds more like, it'll be Madame Guillotine for you if you don't mend your ways...[:D]

[Sunday Driver]

JR

There isn't a fixed fine of 90€ - you were actually fined 135€ which was reduced to 90€ because of prompt payment.

 

[artsole]

SD...............glad that's sorted out...................sorry about the confusion JR, don't think you paid over the top[:D] but some still do!

[Sunday Driver]

For general information:

Nature of the contravention	Fixed fine reduction if paid within 3 days (15 days if the ticket  was received by post)	Standard fixed fine    payable within 45 days	Fixed fine increase if not paid within 45 days
cyclist	N/a	4€	7€
Class 1	N/a	11€	33€
Class 2	22€	35€	75€
Class 3	45€	68€	180€
Class 4	90€	135€	375€

 

 

[Wendy]

This post has been deleted by a moderator, as it broke the code of conduct.

Users must not post messages which:

• Are insulting, abusive, racist, sexist, or derogatory in any way to others, whether they are individuals or companies, users of the Forum or not.

[Ron Avery]

Wow if your attitude towards the French police that night  is normal, its plain to see why you have so much trouble with the gendarmerie here, I wonder why they are so reluctant to help you with your accident[Www].

You are lucky they let you go without having a passport, the French don't need a passport to go into Spain but you do as you are not a French national and don't have an French ID card, so by not having a passport you were actually commiting an offence.

As for stopping drug smugglers, that is why they stopped you, as you had just popped down to Spain, which funnily enough is exactly what the drug runners do only they normally take their passports with them,[:$] Oh and Madelaine McCann was last seen in Portugal not France.

[Cat]

I'm not sure if you read French Jura, but this explains the ID you should always carry in France.  http://vosdroits.service-public.fr/particuliers/F1036.xhtml

In particular...

Les étrangers doivent en outre établir la régularité de leur séjour en France (passeport, visa, carte de séjour). 

 

[Wendy]

No Ron. Catch up please. Since 21st December 2007 these French losers cannot ask me for a passport, nor any other citizen - European or not - crossing a border within the Schengen region. See link...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7153490.stm...I am resident in France. I pay taxes here, I am the mother of a french-born child. I am entitled to be treated under the same laws as do the French. Not only that, I am REQUIRED to be treated as the French are treated. But, as I am not French-born I do not have a French ID card so I am not required to provide one nor be expected to provide one until the French see fit to issue me with such. Not that I want one in the least.

I do NOT need a passport to either go into Spain... nor Italy/Belgium/Holland/Luxembourg/Germany basically over any of the land borders in Europe or need one to return to my home in France. So...what allows France to specify their own rules?...Sorry, they are part of Europe. They are in a Schengen region. One rule for all.

And in reference to your sarcastic remark at the start of your ill-informed reply - I have never had, been at the scene of, nor directly involved in, a car accident here in France. My husband and son have though and luckily lived to make life hell for the person who caused the accident.

So...what's your point?

And as the French no longer issue Carte de Sejours, and I do not require a VISA to live here and do not even have one,  I only have my UK photo ID for ID and that is what I gave them and that is all I was required to give them...my passport stays safely in the house.

Cathy and Ron: Your information is out of date.

[Sunday Driver]

Your BBC link is an update report on the exisiting arrangements for new EC member states.  Contrary to your understanding, the date of 21 December 2007 is merely the date the news item was published and has no legal significance in terms of border control legislation.

You also appear to have misinterpreted the provisions of the Schengen Agreement in terms of the incident involving your stop by the French Douanes.

Whilst you do not have to produce a passport to be allowed to physically cross the frontier, once your wheels cross into France, then you are subject to French domestic law which, as Clair's link explains, requires you to provide ID when required to do so by an authorised person.   By law, the douanes are authorised to enforce this regulation up to 20kms from the border.

You satisfied this legal requirement (eventually) by producing your driving licence.  In this respect, you were treated under the same law as the French - as you are entitled to be.

Other than that, I think the rest of your behaviour as recounted in your deleted post was, frankly, deplorable.

 

[Ron Avery]

Jura wrote

I do NOT need a passport to either go into Spain... nor Italy/Belgium/Holland/Luxembourg/Germany basically over any of the land borders in Europe or need one to return to my home in France. So...what allows France to specify their own rules?...Sorry, they are part of Europe. They are in a Schengen region. One rule for all. 

Except the British.  In addition at any border crossing the Police have the right to demand to see your Passport or if you are French, which you are not, an ID card.

And as the French no longer issue Carte de Sejours, 

 Well they do actually, the problem is they are not valid for travel.

I only have my UK photo ID

 Didn't think the UK had introduced them yet, if you mean a UK driving license ID that has as much use for international travel as a Railway season ticket photo card ie NONE.

Cathy and Ron: Your information is out of date..........  as opposed to yours Jura which is just wrong,.  You are a UK national and... 

SPAIN.

Entry requirements for UK nationals: British citizens must hold a passport, but no visa is required for a maximum stay of three months for those holding a passport endorsed British Citizen.

[AnOther]

I read your "droppings" post before it rightfully got binned and I concur with SD's summation of deplorable.

Frankly I think you were far luckier than you deserved if your driving licence was accepted because I do not believe it constitutes official ID. Any person from any country, be it in the EU or elsewhere in the world, can legitimately hold a UK driving licence hence it cannot be taken as proof that the holder is entitled to be travelling in the EU without recourse to further enquiries, i.e. 20 minutes on the phone. 

In the absence of ID cards the one and only docuument issued by the UK which unquestionably fulfils the role of official ID is a passport and, required or not, it strikes me as basic common sense to carry it when travelling. Had you been in possession of yours then I have no doubt that the incident you describe could have been handled far more promptly and diplomatically however I fear you are someone for whom the concept of "the path of least resistance" does not come naturally.

[Tony F Dordogne]

Ernie, it's the same old, same old from the same person - she knows best and that's the end of it as far as she cares.

[AnOther]

You're right of course Tony and I should know better than to fuel her vitriol [:(]

[Georgina]

I have not been fined when stopped by the gendarmes, I was very polite to them, but I have a distinct feeling that if they are feeling a bit off, they will fine you for something?  Anyone else feel the same? My heart stops when I see them hiding round bridges and bends, even though I know I am an honest citizen, so why is that.

Georgina

[Chancer]

[quote user="Jura"]

 I have never had, been at the scene of, nor directly involved in, a car accident here in France. My husband and son have though and luckily lived to make life hell for the person who caused the accident.

[/quote]

I do hope that your husband and son have more reasons than just the above for living.

[mooky]

How can your UK drivers license been a true form of ID. I have just changed mine after my encounter with the gerdarme. It is not difficult to see why they were confused. My UK license had a uk address that I stopped living at five years ago. My carte gris had my first temporary address on, and my controlle technique yet another address.

I was struck by the gendarmes courteous manners towards me. If I have broken a countries laws I expect to be 'punished'. I just wished I didn't have such a bad memory, and had not forgotten my controlle technique. If you see a woman in the 79 dept wandering around with several yellow "post it''s on her forehead, say hello it's only me, trying not to forget.

[allanb]

Does anyone know for sure whether you need identity documents to travel within the Schengen area? You would think that the EU itself could provide the answer, but it seems to be just as confused as I am.

Here is the answer according to "the portal site of the European Union", in a section entitled TRAVEL IN EUROPE and a sub-section entitled FOR EU CITIZENS -

"Documents you will need: passport or identity card"

That's clear enough. However -

"There are no longer any frontier controls at the borders between 13 EU countries. This is thanks to the Schengen agreement which is part of EU law. The Schengen rules remove all internal border controls..."

OK, so you won't need a passport or ID card.

But wait a minute -

"It is best to have your passport or ID card when travelling in the EU because you may be required to prove your identity. If public order or national security so require, checks at the internal borders may be carried out for limited periods."

So the definitive answer seems to be that thanks to the Schengen agreement you don't need to carry ID, but on the other hand, yes you do.

[Will]

I know it's not a definitive answer but I have often travelled on the Thalys trains through several Schengen countries and on most journeys, at some time (though not necessarily at borders) immigration staff have gone through the train checking ID. On every occasion my French titre de sejour (which is not an ID card as such, neither is it a passport or driving licence) has been sufficient. OK, I have always had a passport as well in case.

I have also used my titre de sejour as ID in Dutch hotels when asked for a passport or ID card, and although one or two have noticed it is a bit different from a French national ID card it has always been accepted.

 

[Sunday Driver]

The Schengen agreement only abolishes routine frontier controls, not the need to provide proof of identity when required. 

As Will says, an official document with photograph will suffice.

 

[hoverfrog]

"official document with photo" - what exactly does that mean?

I have my passport as my one and only form of photo-ID. They nearly didn't let me on the plane to the US as my passport is a UK one and I live in France, and at the airport they asked for two photoID. Eventually his manager told the chap that if I had a carte vitale in my name then that proved I live in France!

Didn't stop me being flagged as a security risk when coming home though, so extra security checks and had to go through the super-sensitive metal detector that my underwired bra set off!!!