Left with 8 cars came back with 5!

[sidekickdmr]

Well, what a weekend, whole thing from the UK leg of the convoy to the well deserved bath back home last night was a blast.

Only dampened by two things:

1. A mate having his phone and wallet pickpocketed in town on Friday eve.

2. 2 of our cars being done by the Police at a toll booth for speeding and being fined a significant amount of money, banned from driving in France for a month and car impounded for 7 days meaning a return trip for those boys (with a mate too, as they need to be there to collect it, but cant drive it)

This isnt a tale of woe, and to be fair, they got the lads bang to rights, just wondering if the car impounding was a thing that has happened before? Not something I've heard of.

And for anyone good at math, the last car was sold to a french guy while we were over there and collected on the Sunday.

Makes for some good stories and piss taking material for years to come!

[SixPotBelly]

sidekickdmr said:

Well, what a weekend, whole thing from the UK leg of the convoy to the well deserved bath back home last night was a blast.

This isnt a tale of woe, and to be fair, they got the lads bang to rights, just wondering if the car impounding was a thing that has happened before? Not something I've heard of.

They're lucky they're getting them back. More than 50km/h over and they can be sold for state funds

[HardtopManual]

Never heard of that before, but how fast were they going? Were they timed between tolls and therefore going very fast for a very long time?

I can understand the enforcement - on the way there, we saw a very near airplane crash on the Autoroute when a local pulled from lane 1 to lane 2 in front of a DB9 that overtook us like we were standing still, and we were doing a true (GPS) 155km/h. Split seconds and inches from a massive smash.

[sidekickdmr]

Nope, we genuinely were some of the slowest cars on the road for most of it, usually sat about 10mph UNDER the limit due to the very old lotus and mini at the back, but as is always the way, the 60 seconds they got itchy feet is when the hidden Gendarmerie was there to see.

[HardtopManual]

What speed did your mates get pinged at?

[sidekickdmr]

one at 195 and one at 200 kmh I think

[SixPotBelly]

HardtopManual said:

Never heard of that before, but how fast were they going? Were they timed between tolls and therefore going very fast for a very long time?

I can understand the enforcement - on the way there, we saw a very near airplane crash on the Autoroute when a local pulled from lane 1 to lane 2 in front of a DB9 that overtook us like we were standing still, and we were doing a true (GPS) 155km/h. Split seconds and inches from a massive smash.

The French have never timed between tolls. What they do is radar you from the roadside on then radio ahead to colleagues waiting at the peage. Everyone has to stop there anyway so it saves having to chase people down. And they can deal with multiple offenders by directing them all into a queue to be dealt with, whereas they could only do one at a time if stopping you with a car.

[kiters42]

Although never experienced it myself, I have read on forums over the years about cars being impounded, so not something they’ve just started to do.

[Muzzer79]

sidekickdmr said:

one at 195 and one at 200 kmh I think

Sheesh

125mph on a motorway in any country is kind of asking for it.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing though.

[outnumbered]

Muzzer79 said:

Sheesh

125mph on a motorway in any country is kind of asking for it.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing though.

Ever been to Germany ?

[sleepezy]

sidekickdmr said:

just wondering if the car impounding was a thing that has happened before? Not something I've heard of.

Generally hear about it once a year, around mid-June for some reason

Stopped at a toll booth but pinged by a hidden camera somewhere else

I've seen them set up pointing back down an 'off' slip road with pairs of motorcycle riders then joining the 'on' section and escorting cars to the next service station to be processed - the car park was pretty full and they were doing brisk business

[RobbyJ]

We spotted the people who had been pulled at the toll on the way back on Monday. About 3-5 miles before the toll there we 2 police with a laser gun in the tall grass about 20m up a bank at the side of the road. They were very hard to spot!

[Dblue]

SixPotBelly said:

HardtopManual said:

Never heard of that before, but how fast were they going? Were they timed between tolls and therefore going very fast for a very long time?

I can understand the enforcement - on the way there, we saw a very near airplane crash on the Autoroute when a local pulled from lane 1 to lane 2 in front of a DB9 that overtook us like we were standing still, and we were doing a true (GPS) 155km/h. Split seconds and inches from a massive smash.

The French have never timed between tolls. What they do is radar you from the roadside on then radio ahead to colleagues waiting at the peage. Everyone has to stop there anyway so it saves having to chase people down. And they can deal with multiple offenders by directing them all into a queue to be dealt with, whereas they could only do one at a time if stopping you with a car.

^^^THIS^^^^

There's no timing between tolls , never has been.

You're playing with fire running at 190k + on a french autoroute, every year we get this. Run at 150k max, If you want to have a decent drive get away from the autoroute, respect the villages and you know , go round some bends rather than just in a straight line.

[seyre1972]

RobbyJ said:

We spotted the people who had been pulled at the toll on the way back on Monday. About 3-5 miles before the toll there we 2 police with a laser gun in the tall grass about 20m up a bank at the side of the road. They were very hard to spot!

2018 - Gendarmes wearing Gilly suits (sniper camouflage) with Laser/Radar gun sat on the Embankments - I kid you not. Whereas if over here - they'd have to be in High Viz/not hidden out of site sight etc.

[RobbyJ]

seyre1972 said:

2018 - Gendarmes wearing Gilly suits (sniper camouflage) with Laser/Radar gun sat on the Embankments - I kid you not. Whereas if over here - they'd have to be in High Viz/not hidden out of site sight etc.

Yep, spotted that too (thanks to Waze)

[Muzzer79]

outnumbered said:

Muzzer79 said:

Sheesh

125mph on a motorway in any country is kind of asking for it.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing though.

Ever been to Germany ?

Er, yes I have?

[Dblue]

Muzzer79 said:

outnumbered said:

Muzzer79 said:

Sheesh

125mph on a motorway in any country is kind of asking for it.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing though.

Ever been to Germany ?

Er, yes I have?

I think you might know what he's getting at
But agree its a stupid thing to do in France and the UK for that matter

[richterswil]

sidekickdmr said:

Well, what a weekend, whole thing from the UK leg of the convoy to the well deserved bath back home last night was a blast.

Only dampened by two things:

1. A mate having his phone and wallet pickpocketed in town on Friday eve.

2. 2 of our cars being done by the Police at a toll booth for speeding and being fined a significant amount of money, banned from driving in France for a month and car impounded for 7 days meaning a return trip for those boys (with a mate too, as they need to be there to collect it, but cant drive it)

This isnt a tale of woe, and to be fair, they got the lads bang to rights, just wondering if the car impounding was a thing that has happened before? Not something I've heard of.

And for anyone good at math, the last car was sold to a french guy while we were over there and collected on the Sunday.

Makes for some good stories and piss taking material for years to come!

Was one of the cars a B7 RS4? I was pulled over (€90 fine and a ticking off) and was chatting to a couple of lads in an RS4 pinged at around 200kph. We were sent on our way but they were looking at 7 days without a car and €750 fine.

[andyj007]

cracking title, content didnt disappoint

[Pupp]

sleepezy said:

sidekickdmr said:

just wondering if the car impounding was a thing that has happened before? Not something I've heard of.

Generally hear about it once a year, around mid-June for some reason

Stopped at a toll booth but pinged by a hidden camera somewhere else

I've seen them set up pointing back down an 'off' slip road with pairs of motorcycle riders then joining the 'on' section and escorting cars to the next service station to be processed - the car park was pretty full and they were doing brisk business

There was such a processing compound at Blangy Sur Bresle yesterday; bottom of the slip roads on and off the autoroute, where they converge on a small island. Drove by it a couple of times as I was looking for fuel and refreshment; seemed quite organised and focused.