uday029

We rented a car for a road trip in Southern France. We made conscious effort all the time not to violate any traffic rules and stayed within the speed that most cars were going. Today I received a speeding ticket (Avis De Contravention) from France in the mail. Speed was clocked at 6 km/hr over the speed limit. The ticket further says:

votre vehicule a ete controle a : 96km/h (Car's driving speed)
- pour une vitesse limite autorisee de : 90 km/h (Speed limit)
- la vitesse retenue est de : 91 km/h (Speed chosen????)

So technically, was I issued a speeding ticket for driving 1 km/h more than the speed limit? I think thats insane. We were driving with another group of friends who live in France and most of the way we followed their car (not a rental. French local car) since we were travelling together. They did not receive any traffic violation notice. I am assuming rental cars are specially targeted.

I went on https://www.antai.gouv.fr/en to see if I can appeal. According to the website I can appeal only my mail? No online process? This is what the website says:

"Formulaire de requête en exonération" (Exemption request form) that you have received with your traffic violation ticket;
"Formulaire de réclamation" (Appeal form) when this document is attached to your increased fixed fine.

Anyone know if I can appeal online? What would happen if I chose to ignore it? (I don't want to ignore, but issuing speeding ticket for driving the same speed as everyone else sounds like being targeted). Any ideas, comments, suggestions?

Thank you.

Gordon_R

I don't see what your grounds for a successful appeal would be - sounds like you are trying to justify to yourself that it couldn't possibly be your fault. But the facts speak for themselves: you went to a foreign country and violated their driving laws. It happens, deal with it. Claiming that they are targeting cars full of tourists is complete nonsense.

sparkchaser

You were clocked going 96 in a 90. They give you a 5% grace (rounded up), so that's where the 91 comes from. So it's entirely possible that where the speed camera was, the other car at that moment was going 95.

Anyhoo, the fine can't be that much. Just pay it and move on.

bilboburgler

as sparky says, you got a grace figure (to allow for any variation in readings on the clock mechanism) and you were well over it. Pay the man

justineparis

Exactly.. you were not 1km over( that was the grace) ,, you were 5 km over..

Its a small fine.. just pay it.

They are strict there.. and it does sort of suck.

Cowboy1968

<i>and stayed within the speed that most cars were going. </i>

That is no strategy against getting a ticket anywhere in Europe.
The cameras did their job regardless if only one car had been zooming by at 200 kph or if 20 cars in a row went by at 96 kph. The cameras don't look for "reckless drivers" or lane-hoppers but simply measure speed.

Ackislander

"I am assuming rental cars are specially targeted."

You are starting with a chip on your shoulder. Bad idea when dealing with law enforcement anywhere in the world.

"I went on https://www.antai.gouv.fr/en to see if I can appeal. According to the website I can appeal only my mail? No online process? This is what the website says"

Believe it. Be glad it want in one of the countries that make appeal difficult. Send it snail mail. People actually do that.

Have you gotten the charge from the rental car company yet? They will bill you for giving your info to the police.

As to not paying, what would happen here in the US?

bilboburgler

"I am assuming rental cars are specially targeted."

I have worked with the technology, the software does not care, this is not some sort of Policecar stuck behind a advertising hoarding with a cigar chewing fat cop in it waiting for the rube kind of country.

sparkchaser

<i>As to not paying, what would happen here in the US?</i>

The French Foreign Legion will send in a covert extraction team to nab OP and put him into a debtor's prison on French Guiana where he will be forced to work in the rice paddies until he earns enough to pay the fine.

Cathinjoetown

It's going to follow you one way or the other, ultimately through the rental agency which will charge you more and it mounts the longer you delay. You can try a dispute but on what grounds? I actually think the fines are stiff but have never had a speeding ticket anywhere else.

Those 90kmph zones catch you and many others, including me, because on the autoroute it can suddenly drop from 130, notably in my area on the Toulouse ring road and through Brive and Limoges even though Brive, in particular, does not look built up.

nickn

Are you from the U.S.?
There are differences in traffic enforcement philosophy. The two you mentioned:
1. going (only) over 6km/h over the speed limit
2. staying within other cars' speed
are U.S. concepts.
It probably does not help that had you asked about driving in France before your trip, you would have been told, <i>It is the way to go. It is easy like driving at home. All you have to do is follow the signs. </i> etc.

nytraveler

You drove over the limit and were caught - so have no grounds to dispute. NO - they do not want tourists - the cameras just recognize speed.

The advice to pay right away is good. If you don;t the fines will increase and eventually they will track you down through your car rental agency - which will add a fee on top (besides the one to find you originally).

Really much easier to just pay now and not much more later.

carl170

I was issued a camera speeding ticket going 1 mph over the posted speed here in Washington, DC on my way to work! I did call in a complaint, but I got no sympathy or appeal either. A few months later however the posted speed limit was adjusted 5mph higher.

I suggest just paying the fine. Cameras don't target anyone specifically.

Carl

kerouac

Speeding on the autoroute is usually worth something like 90 euros for anybody not going more than 30 km/h over the limit.

Pegontheroad

It's a pain in the a$$ to get one of these tickets. I got a 30 euro fine for going 20 kilometers over the speed limit. No problem. They got me on camera, and I intended to pay the fee...and the 29.75 euro charge from the car Avis Europe.


The problem was how to do that. I went to the bank to do a wire transfer to the traffic authority, which costs $35; however, the transfer required a "swift code," which was not included in the paper work I received from Kreis Goslar (Goslar county). I tried to get an international money order from the post office. I went to three p.o.'s before I found one that would do an international money order--but not for Germany.

I finally gave up and took 30 euros left over from my last trip and sent it in a registered letter ($15 postage) to Kreis Goslar with a letter explaining my problem.

I tried to pay Avis with a credit card, but that didn't work, and I had the same difficulty with the wire transfer. I ended up doing the same thing I'd done for Kreis Goslar--30 euros in a registered letter and $15 postage.

If they don't like it, too bad. I have made a good faith attempt to pay these charges. The thing that irritates me is that it has cost me $110 for a $40 ticket.

Pegontheroad

By the way, my city finally started using "the boot" for multiple unpaid parking tickets. After a month's warning, they booted the first scofflaw yesterday. He owed $4000 in unpaid parking fees.

He paid the next day.

kerouac

In France, past a certain point, they can actually garnishee your salary. Since I worked in the accounting office of my company, my colleague in charge of the payroll would always rush to see me to tell me who was being garnisheed for what (90% of the time it was for unpaid income taxes).

Christina

viteese retenue doesn't mean speed chosen, I can't imagine where you would have gotten that translation. Basically, they give a 5 km leeway for statistical error and that is the measured speed minus 5 (the vitesse retenue), if that is above the official limit, you are fined. So the margin was 1 km above the threshold but that's because they are giving a 5 km freebie.

Why can't people act like mature adults and stop the victimization when they commit a crime or infraction? You were guilty, the camera caught you and doesn't care who you are or what car you are driving. What possible logic would it be for local authorities to not fine their own residents, they would be the majority of those breaking the law.

NewbE

I agree with all of the above, and wish to point out that all the same sort of rules apply in the US, so there really is no excuse. Staying with traffic when everyone is speeding is not legal; the fact that they ticket some but not all speeders is a fact of life everywhere as well; speeding "just a little" is still speeding.

The first time I got caught speeding I was 23. I said to the cop, "But I was following everyone else!', and he replied "Yep, and I caught YOU." Meaning, it might be fairer in a perfect world to ticket ALL of them, but that did not mean I should get away with it.

hetismij2

Since rental cars don't have number plates identifying them as such I can't see how anyone, let alone a camera and computer, could pick you out and fine only you and none of the French who were also speeding.
Cameras are digital and small and accurate. They give you a small amount of leeway since car speedometers are not necessarily that accurate.
Pay the fine, and learn from your experience. Don't let it spoil your memory of your holiday though.