Millau Viaduct toll surprise! (1 Viewer)

[Fireflies]

So, after paying €12.00 ish last year at the toll booth for this bridge crossing in our 4.25t Autotrail motorhome, today we had the real shock of having to pay €34.80!

Last time I’m sure we went through the automated toll booth like today (with 4m box trailer) and we were electronically recognised as Classe 2 and charged the €12.00

This time it stated Classe 4 and were charged the HGV tariff.
TBH my reg doc states ‘Private HGV’ so really can’t complain but something’s changed over here with the database for sure.
I have to say that last year a toll booth attendant (somewhere in France or was it Italy?) stepped out the booth and wrote down our reg no. This is possibly because the system was down but have we now been reclassified as a HGV having previously been lucky to avoid the higher charges?

I wasn’t impressed with this route last year, albeit on a ‘free’ motorway as it’s far too much stress on the van constantly up and down the steep motorway inclines.
We also have a large photo collection of ‘that bridge’ so will give it a wide berth in future....

The Millau town route avoiding the toll states no vehicles above 3.5t I think and I’m led to believe it’s arduous and time consuming so thinking we’d be charged €12.00 that’s why we naively sailed up to the toll booths....

 

[filopastry]

Sorry old chap but 3 axles and over 3.5T puts you squarely in class 4
http://www.autoroutes.fr/en/vehicle-classification.htm

Many towns and villages here in France now expressly exclude 3.5T+ from their centres unless for delivery, along with your lower speed limits on our roads it is a penalty for you big boys.

Just as a foot note, when going through villages and towns in France where the speed limit is stated as 70kmph it is still 50kmph for 3.5T+ including motorhomes. You big boys just can't be trusted any faster.

 

[filopastry]

Also means that we 3.5T towing a trailer are now in class 4 too ...... UNLESS you can prove your vehicle has been adapted for disabled then you're back into class 1

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[DavidG58]

@jetlag03 very useful info above thanks

as you live there what is your opinion on this?

this is the northbound route to avoid the Millau bridge but passing through the town, I am 5.5T but only 2 axles

two questions

1. As this sign specifically shows a lorry I believe, possibly naively, that it applies to lorries only

2. If it simple a weight limit would the excuse of using the aire or one of the many camp sites in the town work as an excuse?

I have spotted signs with just a weight limit and no image of vehicle, I would never abuse one of those intentionally but to date feel safe where it shows a lorry

 

[DavidG58]

@Fireflies

just had a chuckle recalling the early days of the bridge opening

as you know the tolls are on the north side of the bridge, so you have already crossed before you pay, the entrance to the services was and still may be before the tolls, it is or was a combined north and south bound service area, the French were crossing the bridge northbound, entering the services then bumping over a grassed low kerbed area and returning southbound with paying a bean

I only crossed the once very soon after opening and suspect there are now more severe barriers in place to stop it

 

[cruiser]

Am I glad that we are a small van,

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[filopastry]

@jetlag03 very useful info above thanks

as you live there what is your opinion on this?

View attachment 198556

this is the northbound route to avoid the Millau bridge but passing through the town, I am 5.5T but only 2 axles

two questions

1. As this sign specifically shows a lorry I believe, possibly naively, that it applies to lorries only

2. If it simple a weight limit would the excuse of using the aire or one of the many camp sites in the town work as an excuse?

I have spotted signs with just a weight limit and no image of vehicle, I would never abuse one of those intentionally but to date feel safe where it shows a lorry

I believe that (1) refers to all "goods" vehicles over 3.5T therefore coaches and buses may pass.
Point 2 is a very interesting one but I suspect that to enter a camping/parking with a vehicle that would be classed as HGV you would only be allowed to enter and exit the camp/parking in such a manner as to not "traverse/transit" the village boundry markers. As a HGV driver in France I have "pushed the boundries" of the rules as I have arrived at a village and needed to deliver within the village boundries and after making my delivery have then continued to "traverse/transit" the village to the other side arguing that as I am already legally within the village signs by virtue of my delivery I can therefore continue unhindered. Have to say I have NEVER actually needed to expalin this to a gendarme.

A weight limit with no pictograms means the limit applies to ALL vehicles

Phil

 

[Jim]

That's not a Millau surprise. Meeting my boy and his friends on it though. That would be a surprise.

 

[tacr2man]

So that sign doesnt apply to motorhomes as you are not a goods vehicle the 3.5 t is supplementary to the Circular prohibition sign
as otherwise it would prohibit all goods vehicles.

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[Coastal Cruiser.]

It’s on TV now...

 

[filopastry]

So that sign doesnt apply to motorhomes as you are not a goods vehicle the 3.5 t is supplementary to the Circular prohibition sign
as otherwise it would prohibit all goods vehicles.

As firefly states his is classed as a private HGV still a HGV. Vehicles over 3.5T are either HGV or passenger vehicles ( I believe) in France so if it isn't a passenger carrying vehicle it will be classed as a HGV, but not sure if there exceptions for farming vehicles, you could always try and say your vehicle is agricultural.

 

[tacr2man]

A motorhome is a passenger carrying vehicle category M1 as it was built as a passenger carrying vehicle not to carry goods its in the V5
my RV is 11.95 tonnes and never was a goods vehicle its M1
So you need to check your V5 , unless it was first registered as a goods vehicle and then converted.

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[DavidG58]

I believe that (1) refers to all "goods" vehicles over 3.5T therefore coaches and buses may pass.

A weight limit with no pictograms means the limit applies to ALL vehicles

Phil

Thanks Phil

Would you not also agree that if coaches and buses are not 'goods' vehicles so would motorhomes be allowed

I have a moderate command of French but don't want to have an in depth chat with a French gendarme, especially an armed one


edit - sorry just realised you have more or less answered that above

 

[filopastry]

As I mentioned previously, I have "pushed the boundries" and if you believe that you can debate the matter with a gendarme then go for it, if not I would advise caution. I speak fluent French and personally would not wish to take up that challenge. Bon chance

 

[filopastry]

Thanks Phil

Would you not also agree that if coaches and buses are not 'goods' vehicles so would motorhomes be allowed

I have a moderate command of French but don't want to have an in depth chat with a French gendarme, especially an armed one

Not really, a bus and a coach are defined groups or sectors of vehicles designed for the specific purpose of transporting fare paying passengers, a motorhome whilst usually viewed extremely favourably in France, would I believe, fall into the HGV group by default. If anyone can find data contrary to what I suspect that would be great but until then I would advise caution. Fines in France can be very heavy and they are on the spot, if you can't pay you're in real trouble.

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[The Nomad]

Was there nothing on the TV tonight lads?

 

[tacr2man]

The classification of vehicles is EU wide , so M1 is recognized in all EU countries.
2007/46/EC as last amended by 385/2009
Bus and coach would be classed as either M2 or M3 depending on weight .

Goods vehicle will have N1 N2 or N3 again depending on weight
so the sign in question would apply to N2 and N3 vehicles

 

[Reallyretired]

For 38euro you could stay 3 nights on a site in Millau and miss the bridge. It's what we do, not always 3 nights but the dogs like swimming in the Tarn.

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[Clarky]

We use the A75 a lot. It is one of my favourite roads with all that spectacular scenery.
We always detour off the motorway and go through Millau itself.
From leaving the motorway to rejoining takes 30 minutes (hardly ever varies) and saves the toll. Don't know how long it would take on the motorway, including stopping at the toll booths, but I doubt there is more than 15-20 minutes in it.
The views of the viaduct and the town are superb, the hills are quite steep with lots of tight bends but are well surfaced and wide and not at all difficult to drive.
Oh, we are 4.5 tonnes.

Richard.

 

[LesW]

Well you will go touring in a trolley bus...

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

As @Clarky we are 4.5ton and always go through Millau since the toll went up. Especially good now they have built the by-pass. Many lorries go through there. MY understanding of the sign above is that it applies to goods vehicles only. As for the toll on Millau I think if you had pressed the button and shouted at the top of your voice "Camping Car" and kept shouting it, the toll would have been reduced to class 2. So few French Camping Cars are class 3 they would assume you are class 2 and the machine had misread. I have never been charged class 3 and am not about to press the button and shout "Class3" and incur the wrath of the cars behind me.b
Although I live in France I speak little French but when stopped by the police always say " vous parley anglais?" (Spelling intentional)?
They always grunt and wave me on, even though I am in a French registered Camping Car. They really can't be bothered. Every French Camping Car that I have met is grossly over weight that included my last one that only had 40kg to spare when weighed wet and? I cannot slim down to 40kg. I have never heard of a French Van being weighed at the side of the road. English ones yes (anecdotally), I think if a Frenchman was fined for being over weight the Camping Car club would kick up such a fuss and probably gridlock some city somewhere and say it was the manufacturers fault, as it is. I am really surprised they have not won their battle to be classed as Class1 on motorways.
Steve

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[filopastry]

@OldAgeTravellers we too may be a tad over the prescribed 3.5T when loaded ready for off. We have a weighbridge just round the corner from us and with the water and fuel full, cans pans and crockery with myself in the seat we are within the limit. I fear my lovely wife once she boards puts us over the line, it's her fault, if she stayed at home the weight would be OK. On the subject of pressing the button and screaming, I fear, this has happened many times in the past, successfully, but now, the powers that be are clamping down. We have just been accepted by Vinci the motorway company, to take part in a survey. We have been issued with a specific, would like to say special but don't want to seem "special" toll badge that will track me through the system to see if/when/where incorrect auto registering of my van occurs, never has yet. Motor homes and cars with caravans are class two whilst remaining under 3.5T. Go over 3.5T and you may get away with it but more and more the rules are being applied very strictly. At the toll booths as well as height recognition sensors, if over 3M high you also win an extra charge, they have cameras so do smile. For those who choose to "push the point" good luck and if you win great but if you are held to pay the correct charges then have the good grace to smile too, it is your choice the size and weight of your vehicle. You are also probably correct that French Motorhomes and lorries are controlled less than English, but you are bloody foreigners using our roads.

 

[Fireflies]

Some interesting and informative comments here guys, thankyou...
Fulltiming and towing a trailer is our choice of lifestyle currently and are more than contented with the boundaries and prohibitions that it sometimes throws up as that’s the deal
We have an abundance of favourite preferred stopovers in many countries and use well worn paths to trundle between them complying (most of the time) with speed limits/weight restrictions
I have to say the toll price at Millau threw me completely but a few Affligems last night kinda softened the impact
My sat nav in the van (the big clunky Autotrail ELE2000) gave up on me recently so invested in a Tom Tom 6250 Professional which impressed me immensely. Size/weights/vehicle type, it’s all there but alas...
I ignored its advice to leave the motorway relying on my memory of previous toll charges and, feeling flush yesterday, swanned up to the barriers...
Lesson learned!

 

[DerryW]

Tacr2Man

Would you be so kind as to tell me where on the vehicle log " category M1" please. Our 2016 Adria Matrix is registered (tax Class) as Private HGV.
Thanks

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[Reallyretired]

I think all French motorhomes are 3.5 ton regardless of their actual weight .

At one time I had those speed limit stickers on the mh but realised no natives have them and it was just drawing attention to being over 3.5 ton. We are actually only 4ton so at a casual glance could be 3.5.

 

[Lenny HB]

Tacr2Man

Would you be so kind as to tell me where on the vehicle log " category M1" please. Our 2016 Adria Matrix is registered (tax Class) as Private HGV.
Thanks

It won't be on the V5 but it is on your Certificate of Conformity, in the UK cars are M1, Motorhomes M1 SP (Special Purpose) other countries often just M1.

 

[The Wino]

So what a lot seem to be saying is they want to register over 3.5t are presumably quite happy to pay less VED in the UK but want to get away with French tolls when its clear which category they come in and try to get away with it by trying to appear dumb to the toll companies? They also want to be able to ignore weight limit signs that apply to them at a higher weight. As this could mean a separate category for all motorhomes at increased cost to 3.5t ones isn't it just like people irresponsibly wild camping?

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[Clarky]

Another old thread rises from the grave...............

Richard.

 

[Badknee]

A little bit confused about charges in France. We are three axles @5250kgs and came down all through France at class 2. I wondered if being under 3mtrs high might be why?

 

[hilldweller]

Meeting my boy and his friends on it though.

Has he recovered ? Has he done another jump yet ?

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