Speed Camera Accuracy

[Perik Omo]

One for the French contigent. Was on my way from Limoges Bellegarde airport towards Limoges Family Village yesterday, had the cruise control set to 90 km/h and as I went past the new camera (one of those with the huge multi angular white enclosure) I noticed in my rear-view mirror the blooming thing flashed me, it was a single not double flash. With the cruise set to 90 km/h my actual speed must have been 86-88 km/h and it's a 90 km/h limit along there. I'm extremely careful along that stretch of road having been done at the start of last year by a camera in the other direction but that time I admit I was slightly over the limit.

If I get a fine come through how the hell do I prove that I wasn't speeding?

Don't know if it makes a difference but there was a foreign registered artic parked right next to the camera with the cab of the unit slightly in front of the camera housing which was the reason I looked in my rear-view mirror as thought that was an odd place to be parked up, right next to a known camera, as the lay-by finishes a bit further back along the road.

[smifffymoto]

I just pay the fines,45€ usually as I don't want them to insist I change to a French licence.

[Perik Omo]

My mrs says the same thing, don't worry about it and pay up, annoying all the same as I hadn't actually broken the speed limit.

Edit to add:

Interesting thing about changing to a french license and don't know if somethings changed recently but I was stopped in one of those roadside vehicle checks in early January and the gendarme took my license/cg/insurance away to his car and came back a few minutes later and said that I had to change my license to a French one to get the points from a couple of speed camera incidents (both very minor) in the previous year. Is all that data centralised now?

I haven't changed my license by the way as we have our place on the market and will be going back to the UK or to NZ when it's (eventually!) sold but that could take years!!!

Edited by Perik Omo on Monday 1st May 07:36

[smifffymoto]

My theory on the licence is,yes we should change but as it is a european licence it is valid.My licence shows that I have met the required standard to be let loose in a vehicle on my own without restraint.It is not for collecting points that don't result in any worth while reward scheme.

[Russwhitehouse]

In my experience, if the camera only flashes once you hear no more about it. If you do get a fine, pay it and forget it.

[Driller]

We went back to the UK for a week by plane and hired a car. Plan was for me to drive but when I handed over my photo licence I was asked to produce the "bit of paper" that goes with it. I couldn't even remember having that and this bought up the question of replacing the licence as it comes up for renewal sometime soon.

Did you know that they've changed the system? You have to give a valid NI number but of course I don't have a valid one anymore which means I'm going to have to get a bloody French licence

[Perik Omo]

Yep, just renewed my UK license as I'll be 70 on 1st June. Did it through that Government Gateway thing and yes, I had to have a valid NI number. The other thing is that doing it on-line for a 70's and over license I've had to lose some of the categories that I previously had.

[magooagain]

Are uk licenses still registered to a uk address ?

I surrendered mine years ago for French paper one and have just renewed it,so now have the plastic card one.

Here are all the category's i have been given on the strength of a full motorbike and car uk license.

Edited by magooagain on Wednesday 3rd May 17:28

Edited by magooagain on Wednesday 3rd May 17:29

[Perik Omo]

Yes, mine is registered at my UK address.

[PottyMouth]

Driller said:

I was asked to produce the "bit of paper" that goes with it.

It was abolished a couple of years ago.

For the NI number, I don't think it ever expires.

My french partner showed her UK NI card at a doctors surgery on a visit to the uk (obtained when working in the UK ten years ago) and all the details came up.

[thefrog]

smifffymoto said:

My theory on the licence is,yes we should change but as it is a european licence it is valid.My licence shows that I have met the required standard to be let loose in a vehicle on my own without restraint.It is not for collecting points that don't result in any worth while reward scheme.

That may be the case, however french law states that while it is ok to drive with an EU licence (theoretically for ever), it must be exchanged for a french one as soon as you have collected french points, which is likely to happen at some point given their propensity for persecution rather than prevention.

[smifffymoto]

The law may say one thing but from experience they need my money far more more than I need their points.If they were that bothered they would insist me change but they don't.

[Perik Omo]

Saw another "hidden" speed trap this morning on the N21 again just south of Aixe-sur-Vienne, two cars one hidden in a lay by facing north which couldn't be seen when travelling north and the other on the opposite side of the road facing south about a km away which was only visible if travelling north (this one had cars stopped in the adjacent lay-by for processing) so the first car is clocking then the second is stopping/ticketing. It was raining quite hard and a friend was stopped in the same trap a couple of months ago for doing 90km/h in the rain and the gendarme informed him that the limit was 80 km/h when raining so that's €90 please!! I suspect that this trap was set up to do the very same. I suspected something was up as when I was travelling north into Aixe half an hour earlier the two gendarme cars were heading south quite slowly.

It's getting tedious now around here with the number of speed traps occurring and the stops for document checks geting more frequent. I now make sure that all my documents are with me every trip out and rigidly keep to or below the limit unlike some of the other drivers, presumably never been done for speeding, who I seem to annoy by keeping to the limit!!