skid solo
23-12-2008, 00:21
FYI, please read. Its harsh but you or I cannot argue with it!!!!!!!!
Most of us have been there - a wide, straight, smooth, seemingly safe and eerily remote French motorway that almost invites you to put your foot down. There's barely a handful of other vehicles around and no sign of speed cameras or traffic cops. There's even a suspicion that such autoroutes aren't policed due to a shortage of road users - never mind law breakers - to justify putting officers on the front line.
But nothing could be further from the truth. The French police are now issuing warnings in the clearest, most uncompromising terms that motorists driving illegally in their country will be identified, apprehended and ordered to pay on-the-spot fines of at least 135 euros (£104) in hard local currency.
You might consider yourself fortunate to be relieved of such comparatively small sum. Should your offence be more serious - 181kph (112.5mph) on a motorway with a 130kph (80.8mph) limit, for example – you can expect a 1,500 euro (£1,159) fine. Dare to drive without insurance and your fine will be 3,750 euros (£2,898). Driving without a licence attracts a fine of 15,000 euros (£11,592). Some offences lead to three-year driving bans and/or the seizure of vehicles and even 12-month prison sentences. Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs attracts fines of thousands of euros and even longer sentences; similar punishments are administered to those who refuse to take breathalyser or drug tests.
It gets worse. Exceeding the speed limit by 51kph (31.7mph) and causing an accident that puts somebody out of work for three months will cost you 75,000 euros (£57,960) in fines and possibly the loss of your car, a 10-year driving ban and five years behind bars. The French are also pushing for a change in EU law so that, from 2010, penalty points for offences committed on French roads would be added to the driving licences of foreign motorists.
None of this will come as a total surprise to seasoned travellers who for years have had their collars felt and their wallets emptied en route to French holiday destinations or the Le Mans 24 Hours race. But I doubt that many British drivers are aware of all the offences that can be punished by on-the-spot penalties. Not carrying a warning triangle in the boot and a high visibility jacket in the cabin (preferably under the driving seat) are two recently introduced examples. But you can also be fined heavily and banned for several years for "failure to maintain a safe distance", specifically 130 metres (142 yards) when travelling at 130kph.
You should already be aware that French motorways have lower speed limits (110kph, or 68.4mph) in wet weather. But were you aware that when visibility is down to 50 metres, the permitted top speed is only 50kph (31mph)? Ignorance of the law will not help you escape a fine, and French traffic cops are cranking-up their enforcement/punishment efforts. They have always been as tough as the massive boots they wear, but they're getting tougher still. Respect them, abide by local traffic laws, remind yourself that they're introducing more and more speed cameras and you should be OK. Disprespect them, and you'll be clobbered. It's a message they're keen to get across and to that end I was recently invited to join a group of British police officers as they met their Gallic counterparts on French soil.
Never forget that the Gendarmerie Nationale is not a bunch of friendly bobbies but a military police force numbering well over 100,000, many of whom live in army-style barracks. They cover 90 per cent of French territory, they have an annual budget of eight billion euros at their disposal (more than £6billion) and their clout is immeasurably large. Their official symbol is not an olive branch of peace but a grenade of war.
They're big on physical presence too, as demonstrated by Chief Francois Maquinghen when he, his police motorcycle, his police car and a police van loaded with lower-ranked gendarmes met me at our meeting point alongside the autoroute near Calais.
Despite the language barriers, Maquinghen has no trouble making himself understood. "In days gone by there may have been some discretion when a driver was speeding. If he did, say, 145-150kph [90-93mph] when he should have been doing 130... you know," he said, shrugging like only a Frenchman can. "But now it's different. There is no discretion at all. You will be stopped if you drive at around 150kph."
And the punishment?
"Exceeding the speed limit by 20kph [12.4mph] means that you must pay me a fine of 135 euros [£104]. Every time. In return I give you a receipt. It's the same for everyone, everywhere in France. And before you ask, I do not earn a commission or bonus based on the number of tickets I issue."
One of the Chief's junior colleagues bravely interrupts and emphasises that on-the-spot fines are the "only solution" to the problem of speeding motorists. The Chief doesn't disagree.
So what happens if a motoerist genuinely disputes the allegations levelled against him?
"In France, under French law, and in my position, everything I say is the truth," says Maquinghen, bluntly. "There is no requirement for me to provide a driver with a photograph of himself breaking the law. We need no pictures, nothing! If he disputes that I am telling the truth, then he has to prove that I lied."
That would be a difficult if not impossible task, whether you'e dealing with the Chief or one of his armed colleagues at the roadside. If they say you're guilty, you're guilty.
"We accept only cash. Euros only. Or a Euro cheque. But not foreign currencies or credit cards," Maquinghen adds, helpfully.
But what if a driver is returning home from a long holiday has spent all his euros?
"If the relationship at the side of the road is good between him and us, we will help him find an ATM. We may take him to the cash point machine in our (but not his) car."
And if the relationship is not so good?
"He can take a taxi or walk to the ATM. He cannot drive his car until he has paid his fine."
Maquinghen insists that he knows of no case in which a driver talked his way out of paying-up, or of officers feeling so sorry for an offender that the financial punishment was waived. If you commit an offence, you pay, even if it means having the money electronically and expensively transferred by your bank or a helpful relative from the UK. The Chief recalls one driver who insisted that he couldn't and wouldn't pay and tried to prove it by sleeping in his car for three weeks. By week four he was not only fed up but increasingly concerned that his car or even his home could be seized and sold in order to meet the fine. So he paid.
"I understand that's it's not a happy moment for a driver when I stop him at the side of the road and tell him that a radar or other device has captured him and he has therefore committed a contravention," says Maquinghen. "He is probably a good guy in normal life. We arrive, he is scared. I would be scared. But he needn't be if he accepts he is guilty of a contravention and immediately pays his fine.
"Sometimes an unhappy driver throws the ticket on the ground. Or he resorts to bad words. But he cannot be unpolite. If he swears I arrest him. If he tells me to 'F*** off' that's a serious offence. More serious than a mere traffic contravention. You can't do it. I insist. And we carry handcuffs in case we meet resistance."
And guns...
"Yes we carry guns too. But to use mine I have to save a life," he declares.
He approves of my description of him as a firm but fair professional (with the emphasis on firm) and to show his appreciation he calmly stops eight lanes of autoroute traffic so that I can do a gendarme-approved U-turn rather than drive to the next junction and change direction in more conventional fashion. The move was almost as scary as the Chief himself. He didn't even wear the hi-vis vest that he requires ordinary motorists to carry.
The message was clear. Do exactly what the Gendarmerie Nationale tells you to do. Or else.
Most of us have been there - a wide, straight, smooth, seemingly safe and eerily remote French motorway that almost invites you to put your foot down. There's barely a handful of other vehicles around and no sign of speed cameras or traffic cops. There's even a suspicion that such autoroutes aren't policed due to a shortage of road users - never mind law breakers - to justify putting officers on the front line.
But nothing could be further from the truth. The French police are now issuing warnings in the clearest, most uncompromising terms that motorists driving illegally in their country will be identified, apprehended and ordered to pay on-the-spot fines of at least 135 euros (£104) in hard local currency.
You might consider yourself fortunate to be relieved of such comparatively small sum. Should your offence be more serious - 181kph (112.5mph) on a motorway with a 130kph (80.8mph) limit, for example – you can expect a 1,500 euro (£1,159) fine. Dare to drive without insurance and your fine will be 3,750 euros (£2,898). Driving without a licence attracts a fine of 15,000 euros (£11,592). Some offences lead to three-year driving bans and/or the seizure of vehicles and even 12-month prison sentences. Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs attracts fines of thousands of euros and even longer sentences; similar punishments are administered to those who refuse to take breathalyser or drug tests.
It gets worse. Exceeding the speed limit by 51kph (31.7mph) and causing an accident that puts somebody out of work for three months will cost you 75,000 euros (£57,960) in fines and possibly the loss of your car, a 10-year driving ban and five years behind bars. The French are also pushing for a change in EU law so that, from 2010, penalty points for offences committed on French roads would be added to the driving licences of foreign motorists.
None of this will come as a total surprise to seasoned travellers who for years have had their collars felt and their wallets emptied en route to French holiday destinations or the Le Mans 24 Hours race. But I doubt that many British drivers are aware of all the offences that can be punished by on-the-spot penalties. Not carrying a warning triangle in the boot and a high visibility jacket in the cabin (preferably under the driving seat) are two recently introduced examples. But you can also be fined heavily and banned for several years for "failure to maintain a safe distance", specifically 130 metres (142 yards) when travelling at 130kph.
You should already be aware that French motorways have lower speed limits (110kph, or 68.4mph) in wet weather. But were you aware that when visibility is down to 50 metres, the permitted top speed is only 50kph (31mph)? Ignorance of the law will not help you escape a fine, and French traffic cops are cranking-up their enforcement/punishment efforts. They have always been as tough as the massive boots they wear, but they're getting tougher still. Respect them, abide by local traffic laws, remind yourself that they're introducing more and more speed cameras and you should be OK. Disprespect them, and you'll be clobbered. It's a message they're keen to get across and to that end I was recently invited to join a group of British police officers as they met their Gallic counterparts on French soil.
Never forget that the Gendarmerie Nationale is not a bunch of friendly bobbies but a military police force numbering well over 100,000, many of whom live in army-style barracks. They cover 90 per cent of French territory, they have an annual budget of eight billion euros at their disposal (more than £6billion) and their clout is immeasurably large. Their official symbol is not an olive branch of peace but a grenade of war.
They're big on physical presence too, as demonstrated by Chief Francois Maquinghen when he, his police motorcycle, his police car and a police van loaded with lower-ranked gendarmes met me at our meeting point alongside the autoroute near Calais.
Despite the language barriers, Maquinghen has no trouble making himself understood. "In days gone by there may have been some discretion when a driver was speeding. If he did, say, 145-150kph [90-93mph] when he should have been doing 130... you know," he said, shrugging like only a Frenchman can. "But now it's different. There is no discretion at all. You will be stopped if you drive at around 150kph."
And the punishment?
"Exceeding the speed limit by 20kph [12.4mph] means that you must pay me a fine of 135 euros [£104]. Every time. In return I give you a receipt. It's the same for everyone, everywhere in France. And before you ask, I do not earn a commission or bonus based on the number of tickets I issue."
One of the Chief's junior colleagues bravely interrupts and emphasises that on-the-spot fines are the "only solution" to the problem of speeding motorists. The Chief doesn't disagree.
So what happens if a motoerist genuinely disputes the allegations levelled against him?
"In France, under French law, and in my position, everything I say is the truth," says Maquinghen, bluntly. "There is no requirement for me to provide a driver with a photograph of himself breaking the law. We need no pictures, nothing! If he disputes that I am telling the truth, then he has to prove that I lied."
That would be a difficult if not impossible task, whether you'e dealing with the Chief or one of his armed colleagues at the roadside. If they say you're guilty, you're guilty.
"We accept only cash. Euros only. Or a Euro cheque. But not foreign currencies or credit cards," Maquinghen adds, helpfully.
But what if a driver is returning home from a long holiday has spent all his euros?
"If the relationship at the side of the road is good between him and us, we will help him find an ATM. We may take him to the cash point machine in our (but not his) car."
And if the relationship is not so good?
"He can take a taxi or walk to the ATM. He cannot drive his car until he has paid his fine."
Maquinghen insists that he knows of no case in which a driver talked his way out of paying-up, or of officers feeling so sorry for an offender that the financial punishment was waived. If you commit an offence, you pay, even if it means having the money electronically and expensively transferred by your bank or a helpful relative from the UK. The Chief recalls one driver who insisted that he couldn't and wouldn't pay and tried to prove it by sleeping in his car for three weeks. By week four he was not only fed up but increasingly concerned that his car or even his home could be seized and sold in order to meet the fine. So he paid.
"I understand that's it's not a happy moment for a driver when I stop him at the side of the road and tell him that a radar or other device has captured him and he has therefore committed a contravention," says Maquinghen. "He is probably a good guy in normal life. We arrive, he is scared. I would be scared. But he needn't be if he accepts he is guilty of a contravention and immediately pays his fine.
"Sometimes an unhappy driver throws the ticket on the ground. Or he resorts to bad words. But he cannot be unpolite. If he swears I arrest him. If he tells me to 'F*** off' that's a serious offence. More serious than a mere traffic contravention. You can't do it. I insist. And we carry handcuffs in case we meet resistance."
And guns...
"Yes we carry guns too. But to use mine I have to save a life," he declares.
He approves of my description of him as a firm but fair professional (with the emphasis on firm) and to show his appreciation he calmly stops eight lanes of autoroute traffic so that I can do a gendarme-approved U-turn rather than drive to the next junction and change direction in more conventional fashion. The move was almost as scary as the Chief himself. He didn't even wear the hi-vis vest that he requires ordinary motorists to carry.
The message was clear. Do exactly what the Gendarmerie Nationale tells you to do. Or else.