Grrr....€45 for one km over limit! Advice, please.

carol sheridan · Post by **carol sheridan** » Tue 01 Oct 2013 14:17

The approach to Geneva airport off the autoroute has decreasing speed limits very close together. I obviously didn't slow down quickly enough last week, as I was flashed doing 76 in the 70 zone. If I had been doing 75 I would be O.K. as they reduced my speed by 5 km/h.
I have paid the fine on line but I am not sure what to do about the one point to be deduced from my new French licence. I have studied the Avis and the website, but I can't see any information. Am I supposed to send my licence somewhere, or will it just appear on their records?

carol sheridan · Post by **carol sheridan** » Tue 01 Oct 2013 15:03

I have had another look at their website and it seems they will send me a further notice after they have received my payment.

Allan · Post by **Allan** » Tue 01 Oct 2013 18:48

I have yet to understand the French system, I still have a UK driving licence but have had a few fines from speed camera.

I have always paid the fines but nobody has ever asked for my driving licence so I am not sure how they know that I don't have a French licence.

I have asked french friends and they don't seem to know either.

It worries me that if I switch to a French licence then all the sins of the past will catch up with me.

montgolfiere · Post by **montgolfiere** » Tue 01 Oct 2013 18:59

you could get a 'visit' and they demand you switch to a French Licence. The rules are that you can use a UK Licence here, just so long as you dont commit an offence!!!
However i have never actually heard of this happening and i have had a few Speeding Fines over the years and have had no trouble. ( i do some 40,000kms ayear and it is difficult to avoid the odd 'Flash'.
just dont get caught speeding in a 50km.hr. Zone. The fine is +/-135 euros!!!

I doubt that you would have a problem when or if changing a UK to a French Licence..... i doubt they are that 'Joined up' for your speeding points to be taken into account.

montgolfiere · Post by **montgolfiere** » Tue 01 Oct 2013 19:02

The Brits have not joined the 'swapping of info regime' so if 'Flashed' here in a UK Car or in the UK in a French Car you will still be 'OK'and not get contacted. However if stopped by 'les Flics' you will get an 'on the spot fine'.

Allan · Post by **Allan** » Tue 01 Oct 2013 19:10

None of this explains how they know I haven't got a French driving license, or indeed have any driving licence at all.

I can only think that they go by the name and address but you would think that enough French people move house without telling them that a system like that would be unworkable.

Whenever I have received a speeding notice, it never even asks who the driver was. You can contest them and say someone else was driving but there doesn't seem anything to prevent the owner just accepting the fine and the loss of points if he has a French licence.

A certain Liberal MP and his wife could have kept out of jail with a system like that.

montgolfiere · Post by **montgolfiere** » Tue 01 Oct 2013 19:14

Much easier just to pay the (hopefully) 'Reduced Price Fine' ...with no questions asked.!!!

Allan · Post by **Allan** » Tue 01 Oct 2013 19:15

montgolfiere wrote:Much easier just to pay the (hopefully) 'Reduced Price Fine' ...with no questions asked.!!!

Much easier than what?

montgolfiere · Post by **montgolfiere** » Tue 01 Oct 2013 19:23

querying the fine or the Driver

Allan · Post by **Allan** » Tue 01 Oct 2013 19:24

montgolfiere wrote:querying the fine or the Driver

I never suggested for one minute querying the fine or the driver. I'd just like to know how the system works.

montgolfiere · Post by **montgolfiere** » Tue 01 Oct 2013 19:30

the original Poster was querying what to do!!!!
I explained my take on how the system worked further up the Post.
if you dont have a Licence then they are only interested in the Cash.
They are not in the Business of 'controlling' who has licences. they leave that up to the Flesh and Blood roadside 'Controls'.
The Robots are just Cash Cows!!!!

monsans · Post by **monsans** » Tue 01 Oct 2013 23:18

As I understand it once a year they send out the number of points the driver of the car has accumalated. The fine will have been paid at a different time. I was told that it is the registered driver of the car in question who receives the points iregardless of whom is actually driving the car. A wife friend thought that it could a cause for divorce after the second offence. A French couple. Yes one can appeal but maybe if not the actual driver get the fine monies from the real culprit. All the information on points is at Ministere de l'interieur Department F.N.P.C. = Service du Ficher national des permis de conduire. My points were given in 05/12 by post but a letter from the above came 12/12 stating up to date situation. No license had to be produced.

sue and paul · Post by **sue and paul** » Wed 02 Oct 2013 01:45

http://www.lindependant.fr/2013/10/01/m ... 795112.php

Apparently, allegedly, if you are in charge of the government department which issues points and fines from radar cameras, you can have them paid by the Trésor Publique. Nice little fringe benefit, non?

carol sheridan · Post by **carol sheridan** » Wed 02 Oct 2013 20:46

I soon worked out what happens. Once they receive my reduced payment of €45 (paid within 15 days, on line) they then send me a notice that one point has been deducted.
If you have a UK licence and get a speeding fine, they will not ask you to change your licence if it is only one point. There is a list of the various crimes and penalties on their official web site.
I wouldn't have bothered changing to a French licence but for the fact that I am now 73 and you have to renew a UK licence every three years after the age of 70. My French licence is a three-fold card, with my photo, but they tell me they will be sending out credit-card style sometime in the future. I can use my French licence until I am 88, but I will be changing to a New Zealand licence long before then.
Did you know there are minimum driving speeds on the autoroute? I looked that up too:

Minimum or recommended speeds are very rarely marked in France, though vehicles incapable of sustaining 60 km/h are not allowed on highways and you must be driving at 80 km/h or higher to use the left-most lane of a highway.

russell · Post by **russell** » Wed 02 Oct 2013 21:37

carol sheridan wrote: I have paid the fine on line but I am not sure what to do about the one point to be deduced from my new French licence. I have studied the Avis and the website, but I can't see any information. Am I supposed to send my licence somewhere, or will it just appear on their records?

You don't need to send your licence away. If you did it would be an offence to drive until it came back. They keep a record centrally.

You can check up on your points here: http://www.mes-pointspermis.com/demande ... nts-permis

Russell.

carol sheridan · Post by **carol sheridan** » Wed 02 Oct 2013 23:15

Thank you, Russell - I did find the site by googling.

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