Speeding in Europe

[Bretty]

I think I just read a news story that said, from 7th May, if you get flashed by a speed camera in Europe they now have access to UK vehicle registration information and will send you a fine.


Is it just another hoax?


How is that enforceable? Would the paperwork be in English? Would UK police enforce this? Come after you and/or extradite you?

[robbo]

According to todays paper approx 14 european countries will have access to DVLA and speeding, red light jumping ,no seatbelt, using a mobile etc the owner of the vehicle gets done.We can't reciprocate due to a "quirk" in the law. I know Irish regd vehicles don't get done due to the number of characters in their reg plate.That will certainly put a damper on high speed shenanigans going to the Bol etc.

[darrsi]

I read that a while back, i have no issues with that as long as it works both ways, which should include totally banning pissed foreign HGV drivers from everyone's roads.

[acid drop]

  Mate was flashed in France 2 years ago in due course he got a fine through the post and it was in French, another mate could speak French so looked at the paperwork and said you've been fined for speeding so mate said wot do I do? other mate said send a cheque made out in pounds so that is what he did,  that cheque has never been cashed.

[BBROWN1664]

this could get messy.
I have a place in France and regularly go over there. I don't exceed the limits any more than I do in the uk  but have noticed I the last year that the speed cameras do not appear to be flashing when you are 2-3mph over the limit like they used to.

[robbo]

I read a while back that he French are removing the speed camera warning signs so you won't know when to expect them on unfamiliar stretches of road.They certainly don't mess about finewise if you get captured in the act.

[lew600fazer]

I live in France , not heard about the removal of warning signs, but there are newer radar cameras now that your sat nav will not alert you to(€1200 fine if caught with the sat nav setup with the camera warning feature enabled)
Concerning sending a UK cheque not being cashed? You might get a surprise on the next visit if you get stopped again and you are flagged up for non payment. I still had my car on Spanish plates and got done, not speeding (failure to come to a complete stop at a stop sign). The French sent the info to Madrid who tracked down my previous address. The person I sold my villa to sent it on to me after 6 weeks. €60 fine became €135.00 and if I had not paid it after 3 months from date of issue (not received date, issue date)it went up to €375.00 and kept on increasing at an alarming rate. I am surprised that the details of the fine were not in the language of the country the car/bike was registered in. My fine was actually in Spanish as the car was Spanish registered.
I  personally think to ignore a fine is daft unless you really are never going to come back to  the country you got done in.

[robbo]

Almost ten years ago a group of about 12 of us were making our way back to Calais from the south.We knew from previous trips that north of Rheims is quite heavily patrolled and agreed to keep to sensible speeds from that point.However one of my pals either forgot or his geography was not to hot, anyhow he got chased by a cops Impreza, fined over 600 quid, had his bike impounded,but had to make plans for its removal within 48 hrs(strangely one of the cops brothers was a white van man who took him and the bike to Calais for cash) and finally had his license confiscated,this was in Sept, and was returned via the British Consulate at Christmas.As I said earlier,they don't mess about,and that was a decade ago.

[lew600fazer]

It has to be said France is a FINE country and if Marine le Pen gets elected it will be the death penalty for  Brits caught speeding lol.

[BBROWN1664]

[Val]

I read that a while back, i have no issues with that as long as it works both ways, which should include totally banning pissed foreign HGV drivers from everyone's roads.

Yes it works both ways.

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/criminal/recognition-decision/financial-penalties/index_en.htm

However, this procedure is not automatic and it can be refused in particular circumstances, for example:
 

• when the same person has already been judged for the same offence;
• when the person is covered by immunity or a certain privilege making prosecution impossible; like diplomats for example
• when the fine is for an amount lower than EUR 70.

[Flooky]

On the way to the Bol in 2015 I got flashed 4 times, (yeah I know ) nothing came through. maybe changed now. The cameras that got me had no sign and were fixed.

[Flooky]

To be honest it ruined the ride, we were looking for cameras the whole time, we weren't doing silly speeds anyway, slow through villages etc, I think the only option for a good ride in Europe now is the twisties where if you are doing the speed limit or above you are either talented or off the edge of the cliff.

[BBROWN1664]

There's plenty of twisty winding roads in Basse Normandy and northern Loire that have no cameras.
There are cameras in some of the towns and villages and on the N-roads though.

[lew600fazer]

I am heading up to Charleville-Mezieres from La Sauvetat du Dropt, Lot et Garonne were I live for a meet up with mates from the Z1000SX forum, think it is 16 of us from all over the UK. I bet 1/2 of them will get done, hope not , but ?

[BBROWN1664]

The beauty of France (or otherwise ) was the on the spot fines. If you kept it sensible in the towns and villages and didn't go too stupid on the open road then you were unlikely to get done. Yes the Gendarmes would hide behind trees and use other tools like pinging you as you drove towards them on the open road from an unmarked car and then pull you over using other Gendarmes in the next village but that was a chance you took.
Then came the speed cameras. These have not been in France for as long as they have been here and it used to be a bit of a game to see how many you could set off in a single journey knowing you wouldn't get followed up. In the last couple of years, for me at least, I have been keeping it down with regard to speeds over there as I now have a house there that I would like to visit but I would still set the odd camera off at as little as 3mph over the limit. In the last year the cameras have either been switched off or they have been modified to not flash (even at night) when doing the same 2-3mph over the limit past them.

Speed camera detectors were made illegal a few years ago and even having one in your car (doesn't even need to be turned and could just be in a bag in the boot) can get you a huge fine. SatNav all got updated to remove camera warnings but too for this reason. What they do not instead is tell you for about 1/2 a mile either side of a camera is that you are in a "danger zone" meaning TomTom et all get away with it and you still know there is probably a camera up there.

[Billy Balthorpe]

So we can get nicked for speeding in France now? Bugger! That's going to put a dampener on the trip in July.

[BBROWN1664]

So we can get nicked for speeding in France now? Bugger! That's going to put a dampener on the trip in July.

You always could be nicked in France by a Gendarme with an on the spot fine. The possible difference now is that they will follow up camera captures as well.

[Billy Balthorpe]

So we can get nicked for speeding in France now? Bugger! That's going to put a dampener on the trip in July.

You always could be nicked in France by a Gendarme with an on the spot fine. The possible difference now is that they will follow up camera captures as well.

Been there done that.