speeding ticket
 

We just received a surprise "letter" from Republique Francaise. It's all in French so it took us awhile to realize it's actually a speeding ticket from our travels in Southwest France four months ago. Has this happened to any one of you readers? It's for 45euros if paid within 20 days....after that it becomes 65euros. It was on Rte 113 outside of Nimes. My husband is always very careful about following speed limits and doesn't remember ever seeing any signs posted. Our French neighbor said, "You're not going to pay it, are you?"

Yep - we got one in the mail yesterday. Why wouldn't you pay it??? Is 45E a financial burden for you?? You were caught on radar - just like us.

Last year we got two tickets - but never received a "request to pay" from the Republic of France (we know we got tickets because Europcar charged us to provide info to the French authorities).

Don't take a chance - you may be stopped by French "customs" when you enter or leave from a French airport, or stopped by police on the road.

Stu Dudley

French customs is not interested in your speeding ticket, but, as SD says, if you get stopped and they happen to run your name, they will make you pay on the spot. Remember, it is a "request to pay" and difficult to enforce against someone not living in the EU.

I wasn't aware that Nimes was now located in the southwest. It must have happened when we weren't looking...

Nîmes seems to have traveled west since I was last there, but in any event, pay the ticket. You may have been traveling 2 kms an hour over the limit, or 20, but radar caught you, and yes, if you don't pay it, you may have future problems renting and driving in France. And expect a charge from the company you rented the car from, too - I think it's about 25 euros, but not sure as we haven't gotten any tickets for years.

A general warning for travelers to France: they have radar everywhere these days. Don't speed, even a bit.

Not France but Spain...daughter and i rented a car..went round and about and apparently got caught on camera speeding. I came home daughter stayed for 2nd semester. Ticket went to car rental. Car rental sent ticket to home address special delivery. PO wouldn't let me collect it. Had to get faxed permission along with copies of ID from Spain. Finally 1 week later the envelope was given to me it was opened..by now the fine was nearly 150 Euros due to several passed deadlines. The whole exercise cost more that the ticket at this end and daughter paid the original fine after a long translated interview at the police station..A lot of stress, work, cost and only paid up because she was at school and didn't want to get red flagged..this apparently can be a problem when abroad for a length of time. Robert..don't go looking for Nimes or at least ask directions..

Regarding your ticket in Spain, yes, like France, Spain has installed camera's everywhere, and like France they can easily be spotted on the internet.

www.motorweb-es.com/radares.ht
english.controleradar.org/france-highways.ph

Nimes isn't a problem, it's Reims that concerned me. Hopefully they haven't moved the Cathedral. I was planning on paying it a visit in a couple of weeks.

France is now also installing cameras at traffic signals, because continuing through an overripe yellow light is a major problem in France.

And they are starting a new generation of radar cameras on the autoroute. Rather than checking your speed at a specfic point, they calculate if you went from point A to point B (perhaps 50 kilometers farther down the road) too fast.

It's a good job most of you don't rent a car in the Netherlands. There are cameras everywhere, some obvious, some not. They are now mostly digital and don't flash.
We also have "traject control" where you are monitored over a distance of motorway to check you weren't speeding between two cameras.
Red light cameras are also very common.

If you don't pay a fine due to you and you pass though Schiphol again you stand a very good chance of having to pay it at passport control.

The Gatso speed cameras used throughout the world are Dutch, invented by Maus Gatsonides, a racing driver, to record his cornering speeds.

>>French customs is not interested in your speeding ticket<<

>>If you don't pay a fine due to you and you pass though Schiphol again you stand a very good chance of having to pay it at passport control.<

Last year I was caught speeding twice - but the French police did not issue me a ticket after they found out I lived in the US. This year I received another ticket, and they did issue me a "request to pay" ticket, mailed to me in the US.

There is a new government in France, and they are looking for new ways to generate revenue. Just because customs/passport control is not interested in me today, doesn't mean they won't be interested in collecting money from me tomorrow.

Stu Dudley

Those of us who live in France get the one-two punch. First you receive the ticket and then once you have forgotten about it a month or more later, you get an additional letter to tell you how many points have been removed from your drivers license and how many points you have left.

Makes sharpening your memory a real priority I guess.

Got one in September, near Montauban.
Paid it on the website, as I'd like to return to France some day without paying an escalated amount.

Luckily we don't, yet, have a points licence in the Netherlands, at least not once you have had it for 5 years. We just get hit financially, with the fine increasing if you don't pay on time.

If you are really speeding - more than 30km too fast (40km on a motorway) then the fine is decided but the equivalent of the DA. You can lose your car and or driving licence if the cops stop you after doing 50Km too fast. Even a foreign licence can be confiscated, but normally foreigners get hit with serious fines in such cases.

The minimum fine is €26 (€23 on a motorway) for going 4km (after correction) too fast, the maximum is €303 (€390 on a motorway. These increase if there were roadworks at the time.

Handheld phone in a car or through a red light is €220 btw!

Same here for the idea of more than 50 km/h above the limit -- your licence is confiscated on the spot and your car stays by the side of the road unless someone else in the car can drive it away.