French Speed Cameras (1 Viewer)

Nov 23, 2011
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Can anyone clarify the position of the French government ban on Speed Camera 'detectors'. Most sat nav detect speed camaeras by identifying their locations within their map data. Does it include these or, only the acual speed camera detectors that are available seperatly.
 

JJ

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Not sure about the original question... read somewhere on this site about it yesterday... but a question...

Has any Funster actually arrived home to find a fine from France waiting for them as a result of a speed camera (as opposed to a manned radar trap) ?

JJ :Cool:

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656

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From TomTom site

From 4 January 2012 a new law in France makes it illegal to be warned about the location of speed cameras while you are driving. If you have the TomTom Speed Camera service on your device, you are breaking the law if you continue to receive the speed camera warnings and you risk getting a fine.

How to stay within the law

Update your device - TomTom - with the latest Speed Cameras. This will remove the Speed Cameras for France from your device.
 

Jaws

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Not sure about the original question... read somewhere on this site about it yesterday... but a question...

Has any Funster actually arrived home to find a fine from France waiting for them as a result of a speed camera (as opposed to a manned radar trap) ?

JJ :Cool:

Nope.. But one of the grandchildren has been 'chased' from Italy for parking !

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Jul 3, 2008
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It is illegal to have a speed/radar camera detector operable in your vehicle wether it is incorporated into TomTom/Garmin or a self contained unit. But you can have a device either in your TomTom/Garmin or self contained unit which informs you when you are entering a dangerous (French goverment) zone/area, this is an area that may/maynot contain speed/radar camera's. :Doh:
 

slobadoberbob

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That has been the situation for ages

From TomTom site

From 4 January 2012 a new law in France makes it illegal to be warned about the location of speed cameras while you are driving. If you have the TomTom Speed Camera service on your device, you are breaking the law if you continue to receive the speed camera warnings and you risk getting a fine.

How to stay within the law

Update your device - TomTom - with the latest Speed Cameras. This will remove the Speed Cameras for France from your device.

It has been illegal to have a satellite system with an active speed camera set up, and has been for many a year.

Speed camera detectors have also been illegal for as long as I can remember.

Must admit, always used mine and had no problems... my garmin old Street Pilot III warns of the cameras, but the Snooper does not sound out...

Bob
 

beachcaster

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Hi !

You are not supposed to use ANY kind of detectors . So if your satnav does it you have to swich off the option when using it on french territory !

Sorry ... another pain (and i am not talking about" baguette" (pain) lol )


Amicalement

Frankie

Hi Frankie

you say switch off the option in tomtom.............which I can do easily.

But some people are saying we should delete all the french cameras.

which is slightly more difficult.

Are you sure that just switching off is ok ??
.as we are travelling down through france in february

barry:Smile:

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Oct 12, 2008
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Hi Frankie

you say switch off the option in tomtom.............which I can do easily.

But some people are saying we should delete all the french cameras.

which is slightly more difficult.

Are you sure that just switching off is ok ??
.as we are travelling down through france in february

barry:Smile:

Well, Barry, honestly , i had them on my mum's tomtom when coming back from Portugal and i was not afraid at all they would bother looking on my tomtom, but could not be 100% sure, they would not check of course . Now with English people .... by the time they try to explain to you (and of course YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND NOR SPEAK FRENCH :winky::winky::winky:) what they want to check ... they'll be gutted and will let you go ... they are not that desperate in finding someone who breaks rules . Now if you are drunk/under any drug , then .... they will take all the time they need to be sure you are out of the road in France!..; They don't really like to have too much work .... and bother with all sorts of different devices in foreign languages ...; phew.....they would need a few drinks after all that :roflmto:

Amicalement

Frankie::bigsmile:::bigsmile:
 

JJ

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Not heard from any Funsters who have actually been caught speeding
by a camera and received a fine back in Blighty yet...

I am pretty sure I know why I haven't...

So a French Gendarme stops a UK registered car by the roadside... removes the TomTom (after finding where you hid it when you were pulled over) and goes into settings to check if you have disabled the camera spotting function...

I might be a real idiot but I just can't see this happening (unless of course you are being an arrogant Brit and screaming "Agincourt" "Welsh Longbow Men Rool" and "We saved you in the war" at them.)

As Dale Carnegie wrote, "Stop worrying and start living..."

JJ :Cool:

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Jaws

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Bob said:
Speed camera detectors have also been illegal for as long as I can remember.
If you do some research Bob you will find a brief window when they were legal.
I believe what findings of the test case revolved around the fact that no data was received and at the time the qrg ( frequency ) used by most speed detector units was in either the J or K band which, again at the time, was not licenceable as such, so there was no offence to answer to.
I really cannot remember the exact dates but know the window covered 1998 and 99 ( possibly 2000 too but by that time I was no longer involved with the Cambridge police so kinda fell out of touch

The glitch in the law was closed fairly quickly so can appreciate why most folk believe it has never been legal ( this, being vaguely radio related, was one of those things I was quite interested in.. AND .. welllllllllllll this is really right out there, but........... I am licensed to transmit and receive on a whole range of microwave frequencies which nowadays include those used by the more common hand held radar based speed detectors..
So in theory ( and I did say this is right out there !! ) any class A or class B radio amateur can quite legally build a lovely little transmitter ( that is, by accident of course, a bit wide band, to completely kill the transmitted signal ! )
 

Popeye

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Well, Barry, honestly , i had them on my mum's tomtom when coming back from Portugal and i was not afraid at all they would bother looking on my tomtom, but could not be 100% sure, they would not check of course . Now with English people .... by the time they try to explain to you (and of course YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND NOR SPEAK FRENCH :winky::winky::winky:) what they want to check ... they'll be gutted and will let you go ... they are not that desperate in finding someone who breaks rules . [HI]Now if you are drunk/under any drug , then .... they will take all the time they need to be sure you are out of the road in France!..[/HI]; They don't really like to have too much work .... and bother with all sorts of different devices in foreign languages ...; phew.....they would need a few drinks after all that :roflmto:

Amicalement

Frankie::bigsmile:::bigsmile:

I think you should PM Yosser with this info, he's bound to get a pull if you saw Broken Link Removed..... Griff :thumb:
 

Bushtrekker

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Second time around.
So what happens if...

...you pass through a French, or other European speed camera? Do you start to build up points like you do here, which could affect you driving there in future if you get too many, or is their system different.

I've only driven in Europe twice, once in France in my Land Rover and once in Portugal which was a nightmare, my first time in a left hand drive car, first time on the 'Wrong' side of the road and unsympathetic Portugese drivers. It wasn't just me, as the guy in the next apartment had been driving in France for years and managed to clock up three accidents in a fortnight in Portugal.

My only other experience of driving left hand drive was in California, where I had no problems.

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slobadoberbob

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It is the Frey Bentos pies that get them hot under the collar

Not heard from any Funsters who have actually been caught speeding
by a camera and received a fine back in Blighty yet...

I am pretty sure I know why I haven't...

So a French Gendarme stops a UK registered car by the roadside... removes the TomTom (after finding where you hid it when you were pulled over) and goes into settings to check if you have disabled the camera spotting function...

I might be a real idiot but I just can't see this happening (unless of course you are being an arrogant Brit and screaming "Agincourt" "Welsh Longbow Men Rool" and "We saved you in the war" at them.)

As Dale Carnegie wrote, "Stop worrying and start living..."

JJ :Cool:

I hear JJ it is the Frey Bentos pies that get them hot under the collar.. something about they cannot work out how to open them... Someone told them that is is a new type of flat can speed camera detector... But I can see how the welsh long bow might upset them.

Bob:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 

slobadoberbob

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I would not know as I keep within the speed limits

...you pass through a French, or other European speed camera? Do you start to build up points like you do here, which could affect you driving there in future if you get too many, or is their system different.

I've only driven in Europe twice, once in France in my Land Rover and once in Portugal which was a nightmare, my first time in a left hand drive car, first time on the 'Wrong' side of the road and unsympathetic Portugese drivers. It wasn't just me, as the guy in the next apartment had been driving in France for years and managed to clock up three accidents in a fortnight in Portugal.

My only other experience of driving left hand drive was in California, where I had no problems.

I tend to keep within the speed limit so I do not know if they chase you down. My rig RV & trailer is 45' long and 55 mph in the UK is the max and in France it is 90 kph which is good for the engine and the fuel return for me.

I have driven all one the world, New York is not the best, Paris is not good either, South Africa is bad... as are some other places... had my first fender bender in 30 years of driving overseas a couple years back in San Diego .. I had a Mexican wedged under my 4 x 4 rear bumper in a car park.... Mine was a Hertz Rental.. his was an old MBW .. he wanted me to give him $500 for his damage. OK:Sad:I did not see him:cry: .. I was backing up in a car park and my back up sensors did not come on.. I nearly touched him... :Cool: a tiny bump on his grill.... You would have thought it was the end of the work... police called.. no one hurt.. let the insurance sort it..... no way he wanted greenbacks.. :Blush: Anyway we were flying back that night.. just filled a Hertz form in and handed it back a the depot.. no damage on my rental.. and I am sure he is still trying to get them (Hertz) to payout ...who me? his car was in contact to my rear and as we all know the car behind is at fault:ROFLMAO:... $500 for a tiny mark...what next... but the moral was never heard from anyone.. same I suspect on tickets as it is to hard to collect ..except the USA when they issue a wants and warrant if you do not settle your speeding fines before you leave.

Bob
 
Oct 12, 2008
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...you pass through a French, or other European speed camera? Do you start to build up points like you do here, which could affect you driving there in future if you get too many, or is their system different.

I've only driven in Europe twice, once in France in my Land Rover and once in Portugal which was a nightmare, my first time in a left hand drive car, first time on the 'Wrong' side of the road and unsympathetic Portugese drivers. It wasn't just me, as the guy in the next apartment had been driving in France for years and managed to clock up three accidents in a fortnight in Portugal.

My only other experience of driving left hand drive was in California, where I had no problems.

System is different . We have 12 points on our driving licence , and the rule is to keep them . To give you an example main rules beaken cost us from 4 to 6 points so : not stopping at a red traffic light or at a stop sign are 4 points (more if drunk). No safety belt on is 2 points . Then fees are added (there is a constant fee as a basis but can be raised according to your general state and behaving ... alcohol, insulting ..etc..)
May be you were not yet a funster(didn't look at your profile) when I hosted last year 180 policemen at the stadium (I am the warden of the stadium) but they told me they would not bother with foreign people... unless you are really badly behaving!!:Angry: They even told me 'tell your english friends to keep talking english... they must not try to talk in french" and most french policemen won't bother at all! In any case , you won't have any letter from french governement it is a lot a lot of papers, it puts them off:winky: Sometimes red tapes has good sides :roflmto:

Don't worry .... just enjoy and keep right as a driver , and as a walking person don't forget to look the other way round when you are about to cross a road!! Look first on the right and then on the left!!

Safe travels and happy days !!


Amicalement

Frankie:Smile::Smile:

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Popeye

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System is different . [HI]We have 12 points on our driving licence , and the rule is to keep them [/HI]. To give you an example main rules beaken cost us from 4 to 6 points so : not stopping at a red traffic light or at a stop sign are 4 points (more if drunk). No safety belt on is 2 points . Then fees are added (there is a constant fee as a basis but can be raised according to your general state and behaving ... alcohol, insulting ..etc..)
May be you were not yet a funster(didn't look at your profile) when I hosted last year 180 policemen at the stadium (I am the warden of the stadium) but they told me they would not bother with foreign people... unless you are really badly behaving!!:Angry: They even told me 'tell your english friends to keep talking english... they must not try to talk in french" and most french policemen won't bother at all! In any case , you won't have any letter from french governement it is a lot a lot of papers, it puts them off:winky: Sometimes red tapes has good sides :roflmto:
Don't worry .... just enjoy and keep right as a driver , and as a walking person don't forget to look the other way round when you are about to cross a road!! Look first on the right and then on the left!!
Safe travels and happy days !!

Amicalement

Frankie:Smile::Smile:

Cracked it...............When you have a number of points on your licence and another offence could see you hit or near the 12, simply go to France and get pissed and drive over stop signs and get a reduction of 6 straight away.

Keep this up until you have a clean licence and then return to Blighty.

I thought Munchie had been gone longer than usual..........suspicious or what? :roflmto:
 

Bushtrekker

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Merci Frankie

I did enjoy driving in France, the only problem being that I ended up slightly deaf in my left ear due to my wife and daughter shouting 'Right' every time I came to an island::bigsmile:
 

sedge

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We've been flashed twice by speed cameras, on the same trip. We went on a baccy run to Luxembourg, in the car. Didn't have TomTom at the time, navigating with the aid of a printed itinerary from Via Michelin and their road atlas. We were on a ring road somewhere when I said to the chauffeur, there's a speed ("Flash!!!" it went) camera round here somewhere.

Coming back there was a portable but static camera right at the end of some roadworks, there was nowt in front of us and nowt behind us for miles, no workmen, no nothing and the cones were only about half a metre into the road anyway, so we were the lone vehicle with 1.5 lanes to use, so somebody decided to drive up to the normal sppeed limit instead of the roadworks one as there seemed no point. "Flash!!!".

Never heard a dicky bird and that was in February 2008 .......

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kelpbeds

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I've been flashed a number of times in France and have never heard anything when I got back to the UK.
 

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