sparky Posted March 18, 2007 Share Posted March 18, 2007 I read an article in the Telegraph that the French Police are fining motorist who have speed camera locations preloaded on their Sat Nav’s. The article mentioned fines of £1000. This seems very strange as before I had my box of tricks I used to print out a route from www.viamichelin.com which had the location of fixed speed cameras on it.Anyone had any dealings with the matter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted March 18, 2007 Share Posted March 18, 2007 Fixed speed cameras locations are officially listed by the French governement in an attempt to bring accident levels down. Mobile roadside camera units are not listed, although the website will tell you if they are in the area: http://www.controleradar.org/This page (in French) will explain the distinction: http://www.controleradar.org/detecteur-de-radar.htmlSpeed trap detectors are unlawful in France, whether used or not. If you have one in your car, remove it before travelling to France as mere possession of will entail a heavy fine.[quote] Article R413-15 du code de la route (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 ou produit de nature ou présenté comme étant de nature à déceler la présence ou perturber le fonctionnement d'appareils, instruments ou systèmes servant à la constatation des infractions à la législation ou à la réglementation de la circulation routière ou de permettre de se soustraire à la constatation desdites infractions est puni de l'amende prévue 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. Lorsque l'appareil, le dispositif ou le produit est placé, adapté ou appliqué sur un véhicule, ce véhicule peut également être saisi. III. - Toute personne coupable de l'infraction prévue au présent article encourt également les peines complémentaires suivantes : 1º La peine complémentaire de suspension, pour une durée de trois ans au plus, du permis de conduire, cette suspension pouvant être limitée à la conduite en dehors de l'activité professionnelle ; 2º La confiscation du véhicule, lorsque le dispositif qui a servi ou était destiné à commettre l'infraction est placé, adapté ou appliqué sur un véhicule. Toute condamnation donne lieu de plein droit à la confiscation du dispositif 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.[/quote] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briwy Posted March 18, 2007 Share Posted March 18, 2007 This page in English from the same site that Clair has mentioned seems to make it fairly clear that GPS systems with camera locations are OK.I was stopped last year at a routine check at a peage near Tarbes and the police asked what the unit was on my dash. Explained that it was a GPS system and they were quite OK about it.Having said that I have yet to see a really good database with French cameras on. Ther doesnt appear to be one that is as comprehensive as the UK one.Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Btuckey Posted March 18, 2007 Share Posted March 18, 2007 [quote user="briwy"] Having said that I have yet to see a really good database with French cameras on. Ther doesnt appear to be one that is as comprehensive as the UK one.[/quote]On the contrary, the ‘gpspassion’ site has a speedtrap database that is as good as UK ones if not better. The site has two versions of the database; Standard and Plus. The former is downloadable by any registered member (easy to do) and is updated every few months. (The last was 23rd December 06.) The Plus version is updated regularly, but you either have to contribute a new trap location or pay a small subscription. Having said that I use the Standard version and it has all of our local traps on it.For further details check out; http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=9172 and http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=9582 Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briwy Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 That look good.Ill certainly give that a goThanks for the infoBrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyphilpott Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 I have a Tom Tom and asked just this question last year. Consensus was that gps units are ok (unlike radar detectors as covered above) but TomTom would not give any guarantees. The police can be (deliberately?) ignorant of the law. I will take a copy of the article posted above and keep it in the car just in case.I use the Tom Tom safety cameras updates for the UK and France. The UK ones seem fine and the unit has picked up French cameras on the autoroute when driving down through France as well as in Hyeres, but I cannot speak for elsewhere. Useful to have so that I know the danger areas - as chosen by the authorities - and drive accordingly.The proliferation of hand held radar units does mean that speeding is a high risk gamble so frankly not worth it.Am I alone in thinking that driving has improved substantially since the crack down on mad drivers over the last couple of years? Journeys seem quicker even though there are less drivers exceeding the limit to a substantial extent - probably due to less accidents creating jams!Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre ZFP Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 Not sure if driving has improved or not, I do feel that I have less agression shown to me now that I don't have a UK plated car. One stat that Lord Clarkson of TopGear came out with was that there has been no reduction in road deaths/injuries since the introduction of speed cameras. Of course there's no way of knowing how high the toll would have been without them. One thing is for sure is that you are much more likely to have an accident near a speed camera as motorists take their eye off the road and/or brake sharply to check the speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonzjob Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 Why not just obey the law and don't speed in the first place. Even if you do speed you won't get there very much quicker anyway...Yes, I have had a couple ofspeeding tickets, years ago when the roads were quieter than now. One of those was a wrongly timed VASCAR when there was the blanket 50 mph limit across the country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob T Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 To be fair the question was not whether to speed or not, it was are GPS systems with speed camera databases legal. I have never had a speed ticket but have exceeded the speed limits many times,these days I tend to stick to them if not on the motorway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugsy Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 Me too Bob, I can't afford to do otherwise. A driver in France would have to be pretty non-observant to miss the enormous warning signs on the approach to fixed cameras. Mobile ones are a different matter altogether and are frequently hidden.[IMG]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p211/Bugbear2/speedenforcement1.jpg[/IMG] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Btuckey Posted March 21, 2007 Share Posted March 21, 2007 [quote user="Jonzjob"]Even if you do speed you won't get there very much quicker anyway...[/quote]The laws of physics work differently in your area do they? [:-))] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonzjob Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 [quote user="Btuckey"][quote user="Jonzjob"] Even if you do speed you won't get there very much quicker anyway...[/quote]The laws of physics work differently in your area do they? [:-))][/quote]No different to yours!If I were to do 130 Km at 130 KPH ( the legal limit on paege autoroutes in the dry) and you were to do the same distance at 150 KPH then you would arrive at the pay point 12 minutes before me. Mind you I would be paying at the same time as you would be trying to tell the 'Damjams' (gendamerie) why you were in such a hurry... You may get away with it, but is it worth the chance for 12 mins?[geek][geek]. You could have a cup of coffe peut etra? BIG DEAL!After all if you read what I said it was, as above, "you won't get there very much quicker" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonzjob Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 P.S. Sorry this has taken a long time to reply, but I have got back from crewing on a péniche for the last 3 days on the canal du Midi. Not speeding, just about 5.2 KPH approximately. What a wonderful way to travel [8-|][B](péniche = 30 metre barge) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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