Speeding fine from France

[andyoctavia]

Well this surprised me.

A letter tumbled through the box about half an hour ago and it is basically a "violation notice" from France.

So, bearing in mind it is now 14th March 2019, it was posted on 5th March 2019, and the notice refers to a speeding violation on 12th September 2018.

 

Your vehicle was checked at 100 km/h

Authorised speed limit 70km/h

The speed used is 95km/h

 

The fine is 90 Euros if I pay it in 46 days or less from 5th March 2018.

 

So, I decided to look where this happened, using the ref - RN4 091.137

It came up with an immediate Google result, showing me that other people - French people were having exactly the same problems as me. Apparently it is a 90 km/h road, with the 70km/h attached to the speed camera.

 

https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=search&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=fr&sp=nmt4&u=https://www.radars-auto.com/emplacements/marne/vauclerc/1602-radar-fixe-n4/commentaires/&xid=17259,15700021,15700186,15700191,15700248,15700253&usg=ALkJrhheahA4h9JPWjwql_L733AVxS6Y2Q

[xman]

Another reason to avoid France.

[mac11irl]

Ouch....

 

[Guest]

8 hours ago, xman said:

Another reason to avoid France.

Try telling the Germans that! 

[Frenchtone]

Is it dual carriageway? if not probably correct if it is then 90 is  applicable and you've still broken the speed limit, limits were changed here last year and confusion still rules!  They didn't used to chase johnny foreigner for fines as the recovery costs outweighed  the fine!

Locally a 3 lane job has the 2 lane section at 90 whilst the single lane is  at 80  --   sensible or what, another instance of policy making after a good lunch on a Friday afternoon!

Edited 14 March, 2019 by Frenchtone

[john999boy]

The main thing is if the fine can be avoided without any consequences though! 

[peter3197]

6 minutes ago, john999boy said:

The main thing is if the fine can be avoided without any consequences though! 

I think there may be a problem if you go to France with the same vehicle.

[john999boy]

3 minutes ago, peter3197 said:

I think there may be a problem if you go to France with the same vehicle.

Just a potential bridge to cross in the future! 

[shyVRS245]

14 minutes ago, john999boy said:

The main thing is if the fine can be avoided without any consequences though! 

Avoid going back to France or better still the whole of Europe and you won't have to pay. 6 months to send you the fine what a joke. Hardly likely to issue a European Arrest Warrant or send over the garlic flavoured bailiffs now are they. Hoping your an easy touch and just cough up. Pity the hi-vis brigade didn't take out more cameras last year.

[shyVRS245]

5 minutes ago, john999boy said:

Just a potential bridge to cross in the future! 

Or tunnel.

[J.R.]

Can you post the text of the letter that you have recieved which you say is a fine.

 

I suspect it is no different to the ones from Belgium that are no more than an invitation to pay (AKA blackmail) a contribution to avoid a "potential pursuit in justice" = cough up and make it go away.

 

You can not be fined unless you have been found guilty and that wont happen in your absence & you cannot be summoned before a French tribunal, not applicable if you were stopped and locked up.

 

I would just throw it away or stick it on my garage wall with all the UK pay and display car park (not) fines.

 

So much for my claims that despite the systems allegedly being in place the fines are not making their way across the channel, maybe I will recieve a rash of them for all the 50mph restrictions to and from Folkestone on my last visit.

 

I can start decorating my garage wall here as well then!

[peter3197]

3 minutes ago, J.R. said:

 

 

You can not be fined unless you have been found guilty 

 

 

You haven't heard of fixed penalty notices, then.

[andyoctavia]

3 hours ago, Frenchtone said:

Is it dual carriageway? if not probably correct if it is then 90 is  applicable and you've still broken the speed limit, limits were changed here last year and confusion still rules!  They didn't used to chase johnny foreigner for fines as the recovery costs outweighed  the fine!

Locally a 3 lane job has the 2 lane section at 90 whilst the single lane is  at 80  --   sensible or what, another instance of policy making after a good lunch on a Friday afternoon!

 

 

Deffo dual carriageway, nice journey following the other traffic being well behaved, quite a busy area, lots of trucks on the inside, I remember this day pretty well.

[J.R.]

12 hours ago, peter3197 said:

You haven't heard of fixed penalty notices, then.

 

I should do, I paid enough of them in my days, dont have one to consult for the words but the same applies, you are under no obligation to pay, its voluntary and will save you money unless you go to court (in default of payment) and prove your innocence.

 

Tried that once and was taught a lesson that I will never forget

[andyoctavia]

On 14/03/2019 at 21:36, J.R. said:

Can you post the text of the letter that you have recieved which you say is a fine.

 

 

 

It is described as a Violation Notice at the top.

Then it has a Description of Offence.

I haven't got access to a working scanner at the moment or else I would post a copy.

If I want to appeal then I have to contact - L'Officier Du Ministere Public Contestation Vitesse.

[shyVRS245]

4 minutes ago, andyoctavia said:

 

It is described as a Violation Notice at the top.

Then it has a Description of Offence.

I haven't got access to a working scanner at the moment or else I would post a copy.

If I want to appeal then I have to contact - L'Officier Du Ministere Public Contestation Vitesse.

Advice remains the same ignore it. French Police busy with water cannon in Paris and Fire Brigade busy putting out burning cars thanks to President Macron. You are the least of their problems with current levels of civil unrest.

[J.R.]

They are accusing you of rape or maybe giving you notice that you are going to be raped, in either case you are advised to go on the run

[john999boy]

A very long time ago I received a parking ticket in Le Touquet - probably due to either not reading the sign correctly or misinterpretation. 

I did ignore it and didn't go back with the same car.

Obviously that doesn't help the OP at all but investigative skills may well have moved on now. 

[moley]

On 14/03/2019 at 12:06, andyoctavia said:

Well this surprised me.

A letter tumbled through the box about half an hour ago and it is basically a "violation notice" from France.

So, bearing in mind it is now 14th March 2019, it was posted on 5th March 2019, and the notice refers to a speeding violation on 12th September 2018.

Does it really take the French almost 6 months to issue a ticket after the alleged offence?

[shyVRS245]

1 minute ago, moley said:

Does it really take the French almost 6 months to issue a ticket after the alleged offence?

They only work 35 hours a week, when they are not on strike or burning Paris.

[moley]

1 minute ago, shyVRS245 said:

They only work 35 hours a week, when they are not on strike or burning Paris.

In the UK the registered owner has to receive the ticket within 14 days. If only the EU were as efficient as the UK.

[J.R.]

There is no time limit for begging letters if people are minded to pay up

 

There is a certain amount of time for a procès verbal to be recevable and it will certainly be less than 6 months but I'm not going to spend time looking it up, the OP will either throw the begging letter away or pay up regardless like 99.99999% of the god fearing French.

 

I have had hospital bills two and a half years after the operation and even then they could not say definitively that there would not be more to follow, they explained that they were of course déborde (snowed under, its obligatory to say that) everyone on sick leave, maternity leave, stress leave, or just marking time till the next public holiday.

Edited 16 March, 2019 by J.R.

[andyoctavia]

18 hours ago, moley said:

Does it really take the French almost 6 months to issue a ticket after the alleged offence?

It took the letter/notice dated 5th March 4 days to get a Paris postmark, and then another 5 days to reach me.

Some of the French folks on that link in the first post, received multiple violation notices from that same camera, because they didn't realise about the reduced speed limit and the sign wasn't very visible.

[xman]

More and more sophisticated camera technology is being installed here in the UK and EU wide that is fully autonomous and will issue fines automatically without any human intervention. Money earners pure and simple, no pretence of being safety cameras. And of course the distoptian future imagined by Huxley and many others, went from being absurd fiction to disturbing reality.

 

The French law of having speed camera alerts in your car as being an illegal act, no wonder the yellow vests have had enough.

 

 

[andyoctavia]

Was speaking to the neighbour (who travels to France regularly) about this ticket, and he told me that for the past couple of weeks he has been using the M20 in Kent which has 50 mph limits and average speed cameras. He sticks to 50 and gets passed by every single foreign lorry and car, I wonder how many of those get fined, and if so, how many pay up?