Thanks for the great info Finn, he will be well gone by November. I have passed this info on to him, much appreciated.
Bill
Hi William, you should tell your son he also needs a fire extinguisher and a first aid kit in the car plus a warning triangle. I think that's the whole list, together with the high viz jacket and the blooming breathalyser of course.
You have to love SFN for allowing us to vent our comments and feelings in a no holds barred environment, but dont step over the line, or else! Sheila started this discussion about the new breathaliser requirements and we ended up discussing the black economy, speeding fines and taxes. I read through wanting to know the definitive on the new breathaliser requirement so that I could tell my son, who will be visiting next month, what he needs to be aware of. Best tell him to obey the French law as it relates to carrying a breathaliser kit, carrying hi vis jackets and keep within the speed limit (regardless of what he thinks conditions suggest). I am not sure how this got into a discussion about living within the law or without the law but call me old fashioned and not wanting to take off in another direction dont we generally obey the law in all aspects, being democratic and all that?
The funny thing is....I have two brothers...both tall and not unlike my dad, but of the three of us...I have the temper and sometimes the temperament to match the old man.....he used to ask my brothers ' what makes her so angry'....to which they used to reply....your genes did !
Not ruddy likely --- you might set your Dad and his mates on me lol
Youve just gotta be yourself.... ;-]
Damn ---- so my chat up line didn't work ---- ahhh welll back to the sarcasm and vitriol .
ok.....who posted that....bring back the Richard that has been posting on SFN!!!!
You are as well --- a very lovely lady.
Richard you were right...I am Saint Carol...or Saintess...whatever....cant help it. My dad was what is known as a 'character'....tall...handsome...and not unused to using his fists as required.. he was a fantastic dad and as a kid I idolised him. He had a lot of interesting friends...including several east end gangsters ...he often lived outside the law... its left me with a very moralistic side to my nature...if a friend of a government minister suggested something that was useful and benefitted the country...wonderful....would I use someone in a position of power to do something that would benefit a section of society (my main role was working with blind people) then yes I would use them...for the good of others Richard...not to line the pockets of anyone.. and I dont think I am unusual..not everyone on the make.
Carol, forgive me, but I didn't suggest for a moment that YOU employed people on the "black" what I suggested was that you report those cheating the system, is that not the social concsience way to go ???.
You, like the rest of us have had responsible jobs, set our own busineses up, and yes, we too get p'issed off seeing those wasters get paid, but unfortunately thats life, its a cross we all have to bear.
I agree with you regarding breathalysers, but they are here , we have to have them, ... end of.
Be honest now, have you NEVER in your lifetime used someone --"in the know' ---- to help you out no matter what it may have been, I have, friends of Presidents etc are no different, they see an opening and they go for it.
Richard we dont employ ever..anyone wanting cash. I wont report people...but I wont use them. I object to their freeloading....and frankly Richard...yes I do blame them...no one makes them cheat the system...so who should I blame?
We dont have investments...we have company pensions...(3 years on and the system here is still double taxing us!) we have a flat we rent out...thus the accountant.... easy to get vitreolic about such pathetic systems....people obviously not doing their jobs properly. I had a responsible job and ensured it was done correctly..and yes I do get mighty p*ssed off with others that sit and stare out of the window all day and who dont do what they are paid for.
As far as the breathalyser concerned...its a waste of my money...a waste of money for most of us living here...and no it isnt daft to expect sensible government...what are you suggesting...that to be friends of any President here means automatic scams for them to make money? and you think thats ok? or are so cynical that you expect it and wont complain? I did state that rather than make stupid rules about carrying bits of useless kit...punitive punishment is used in dealing with drink drivers...to me that is sensible government.
Carol, looking at your photo you look a charming delightful lady, but is there a dark side to you, all this vitriol.
You obviously earn enough to have to employ a good accountant, to sort out your taxes, us two, we just have state and company pensions to worry about, no bonds /shares/ nothing,
If there are those "working on the black " --- or have unregisterd cars and it is upsetting you seeing them get away with things ----- then report them to the authorities ---simple.
But can you blame them, I would suggest to you that the people that employ them are, in the main, Brits, or English speakers, if this social conscience is going to work are you going to be able to convince those that employ them to stop doing so ????
As far as drinking and driving is concerned, although I enjoy a drink with my meal in a restaurant I am not stupid enough to have more than a glass or two, (according to the size of the glass), and I certainly wouldn't "test" myself to see if two glasses had done the trick, those that imbibe more than they should deserve to be caught, punitively fined, even banned for life from driving, because if a drunk driver killed any of my family I would, and am NOT being melodramatic, take their life as soon as I possibly could, because if they are prepared to kill someone from their inability to control their drinking then they themselves deserve to die.
And to blithely say the CEO, is a personal friend of Mr Sarkozy, is, to say the least, rather daft.Wasn't there, some time ago, a French minister that lost a grandchild due to a swimming pool accident and the result was ----- a major safety scam for pools -- pushed through the judicial system just by this minister and this minister alone, media hype dear lady, media hype.
not the same argument you have going on in your posting Richard....taxes...absolutely agree, we do have to pay our taxes...we always have and always will..we do employ a good accountant...but do not avoid tax in any shape or form, but pay full whack....the government here may like to take a look at the large numbers working on the black...ie...not paying tax in any shape or form but sending their kids to school, using the health system...enjoying the use of the roads, the clean streets etc. Where we live...there are a dozen Brit cars and vans...not registered in France...not insured apparently in France...used for business....and asking to be paid in cash....now if the government started making sure these people were brought into the tax system..they could stop introducing dopey laws like the need to carry breathalysers that dont work correctly if stored above 30 degrees (5 months of the year where we live you get those temps)...that go out of date regularly...so you need to keep buying them whether or not you use them....are not even close to reliable....and honestly Richard...tell me who is going to test themselves and then decide not to drive? er...really? when we go out to eat...because we live in the countryside...we drive 20 plus kms to every restaurant...now if the driver has a drink or two and is over...then what? walk back? get a taxi...haha...good luck with that...you have to book them in advance here.....? so what happens? what we do is the driver never drinks...but people who are over the limit will still drive...why not instead of penalising the whole country with having to carry these naff bits of useless kit....(the company which makes them has a CEO who is one of Sarkozys best mates) introduce punitive punishments if you are caught over the limit....a few hundred euros fine and a minimum ban of a year...? if you are truly suggesting this is a good idea for raising funds...then I think the government need to talk to some company fund raisers and find out the better ways of doing it!
Of course it will add to the countries coffers, don't forget a country in itself cannot earn a wage, support itself etc etc, money has to be gleaned someways, so surely making you carry a Five bloody Euro breathalyser in your car isn't going to kill you.
If you feel that badly against it, sell the ruddy car, that way you can stop giving the petrol/ diesel taxes, the M.O.T. taxes / the insurance taxes / garage taxes etc etc etc etc. And then with no tax revenues and the country goes into decline you can start complaining about the high cost of this and the high cost of that.
WE HAVE TO PAY TAXES----FACT.
Which of course will add to the Government's coffers! So no surprise there!
Yes Dick....absolutely right but what has changed is that we can now get fined etc without one in the car even if we have not had a drink.
You only need one per car. You don't have to use it. Responsible people won't drink and drive whilst irresponsible people will drink and not test. We have managed for all the years without them and don't drink drive. What has changed except the law?
Went to 3 chemists today who all said - the producers of Alcootest have run out of supplies and the deadline is now 1 Nov for implementation
3 'outlets' have told me today that they won't be able to get stocks until the end of October - according to the manufacturer!
C'est bizarre, n'est-ce pas?