On the grass verge next to our hedge is a car which has been there for about 3 months. We and several others have complained to the Maire. The Gendarmes came out and sprayed a red mark on the tyres and the ground to see if it was being used. The day before they were going to remove it a few men pushed the car about 2 metres so the red marks do not align with those on the ground. I imagine if the Gendarmes come out again it will be pushed a further 2 metres. A game which could go on ad infinitum. The car may not be insured or controle techniqued, which I assume the Gendarme would have checked, surely. Is there an online way to check a vehicles status in France similar to contacting the DVLA with the registration number in the UK. The Maire intends to get the grass verge that the car is parked on repaired and new grass seed put down, although it can’t be done with a car in the middle.
You could, buy a can of red spray paint then next time it’s moved - - -
Nope. Not here. Only the Police have access (and some official bodies but can’t pass on the info to you).
Its down to the Mairie as the verge belongs to the commune. I would remind them about it at the mairie and maybe they will get the autocaisse to come and pick it up after putting an official notice of removal on a specified date on the vehicle so the owners have been warned.
I have a nice can of Ducati red.
Thanks everyone. It looks like another visit to the Mairee.
Quick question; if the car is an abandoned one - and only the police would have access to that information - do the police then prosecute the driver for X offence ? Or does the car and reg number just disappear into ‘the system’ ?
Why would it disappear into the system? If there is a punishable offence, then eventually the police would do something. Especially if there is a fine attached.
But not really a high priority for police resources if not blocking highway.
It doesn’t wound abandoned. Someone cared and was alert enough to nudge it 2 metres to indicate it’s not abandoned.
I’ll take a gueaa that someone whose financial resoirces are limited has had a breakdown. Probably struggliing to sort out at least moving it and/or repairing it.
If you ask around, someone will know the story. Was there any opportunity to speak to the blokes that came to nudge the car?
I’d cut the owner some slack as it sounds more like they are struggling than the car is abandoned.
Yes sounds like it is legal and not abandoned. Eyesore sure but still legal
My immediate thought also, but as an alternative push it back two metres so the red marks align again.
More seriously, I’d throw a wobbly with the Maire and tell them to get the bloody thing taken away. We pay far too much in local taxes to have the sort of rubbish going on.
Presumably you saw these men?
The fact that the car has been pushed, shows the handbrake is not engaged and the car could be moved further away (if necessary) by someone authorised to do so. The Owner might well have asked friends to move it…
I suggest you contact the Mairie and explain what you saw.
The Gendarmes will be able to check the vehicle information including the Owner.
In a simple situation, the Owner would be contacted if the vehicle was breaking the law.
Locally, in a complex situation, it took a few years to finally get a vehicle removed… and we all breathed a sigh of relief to see the back of it.
The car was moved late at night after we had gone to bed but we could see them through the window. We have spoken o the Maire and he knows that the car was pushed a couple of metres. He says the gendarmes will still be able to move it. The whole grass verge is going to be repaired by the builders who built a residence across the road. The commune has recently inserted pipes into the fosse and covered them to allow parking on the other side of the road and further down the street. They are then going to stop parking on the grass verge. The abandoned car can be pushed onto the new parking area so at least that will allow the repair of the grass verge to commence. It is then going to be down to the maire to get it moved or not.
Please keep us up to date..
I will Stella. We are off to the UK for a couple of months so it will be a nice surprise when we get back. I hope.
Try and film them, the next time they come and push it!
I once worked at the reception of a hotel in the 15th arrondissement. Outside, there was an abandoned yellow bubble car parked in the same spot for at least a year.
For some reason l found this annoying and decided to do something unconventional.
One day there was a group of rugby players staying and l asked them for a favor.
When they returned later after dinner, could they push the car slightly into the traffic so as to cause a hindrance and then someone would be forced to do something.
The next morning, no more car! 
They’d pushed the car in front of a parking exit with obvious results.
There was a workshop near our London house, the access for which was on a residential road notorious for school runners parking their Chelsea Tractors all over the place and blatantly ignoring the parking regulations.
Workshop owners put up a sign on their gates that read “We have a big forklift and we’re not afraid to use it. Please don’t park in front of these gates.”
After a 3rd car got carefully placed in the middle of road, blocking a local rat run and requiring the Met to get it removed, the locals and the school runners got the memo.
Agreed. I was in the same boat back in Canada when I was young. My first car, a ‘beater’ bought for $500, broke down and I had just lost my first real job. I couldn’t afford to fix it and had nowhere to store it. It was across the street from where I was renting a room in a house. The owner of the property t was in front of decided he didn’t like that so he put a note for me to move it. I rolled it downhill 5 meters to not be in front of his property but eventually had it hauled away as scrap.
Why not assume the owner is having a hard time and, if it isn’t actively a problem (other than an eyesore), just put up with it for a few more months. You could even write a note and put it on the car to this effect. ‘You’ve got two months to find a new home; have a friend tow it.’
I was given a company car when I started work and proudly drove a girlfriend to the cinema in it. Halfway through the film a message appeared on the screen (to boos from the audience) asking the owner of car reg XXX XXX please report to the ticket office. Recognizing the number, I crept out to be met with a couple of senior policemen.
I had parked in the rear entrance to the local police station and a number of jam jars were queued waiting to enter and leave. I escaped with a caution.