Speed fine - What would you do in this case?

They clone the numbers. They don't even know what vehicle they're cloning. Just get false carte grise papers made up.

http://sosconso.blog.lemonde.fr/2013/10/23/quelquun-circule-avec-ma-plaque-dimmatriculation/

Don't panic Mr Mainwaring !

Not really sure why someone would want to clone your car let alone the caravan. The camera will not have taken just a photo of your registration plate but of the whole of the rear of the caravan too. The chances of it being same model as yours I would think slim get to see a copy of the original photo.

Can any of your friends or neighbours testify to the fact that your caravan has not moved? That could be helpful.

Myself, being rather stubborn, I would fight it on principle. Integrity is worth more than a few €€€€s.

Sincerity won't count for much with the gendarmes or police who work with facts. Pay the fine to keep the amount to a minimum and try to provide retrospective proof later. A photo may help of course. Is the caravan registered in France (Carte Grise) or elsewhere ?

I suppose it's reassuring that the obvious solution i.e. go and discuss it with the gendarmerie, turned out to be the most helpful solution but why oh!why do we all panic first then act sensibly later?!!!!!,

If I was innocent there is no way I would pay. Do they have photographic evidence? You could at least see your car / caravan proving it was not yours....

or

do you have any proof of where you were that day? ie. till receipts, parking receipts etc etc....

What we have done (thinking that our registration number plate might have been cloned) is that we went to the police station to report and get advice. We were told not to worry as often the numbers are misread and it will be enough to contest without paying anything, send whatever proofs we have (photos, etc..) and they will compare with their photo and it might come out that it will show a totally different vehicle. If by any chance they reject the contestation, to come back to the police station and they will issue us with a certificate that the caravan could have not been on the road on that date. (nice).

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Does the Avis de Contravention identify the vehicle as a same make caravan with your registration number?

If it does then you must contest it or accept that you might continue to get more fines if someone has cloned your number.

If it identifies the make as something different then it should be easy to contest.

We had a similar dilemma before Christmas. My husband was stopped by two motorcycle gendarmes for speeding. They stopped him because he was the last of a line of cars. The car that was actually speeding had overtaken the line of cars at an incredible speed and disappeared over the brow of a hill. Unfortunately our car was the same colour so the police assumed it was my husband. As the speeding car was going well over the speed limit the fine was large and it also meant a loss of 3 points.

In the end we decided to just pay it, it seemed to be the least stressful way out. Looking back with hindsight my husband should have gone to the police station to complain immediately after being stopped but we waited to see if the ticket would arrive.

In these cases you have to pay first and argue later (as might be expected). There's a lot of plate cloning going on, there have been cases of old geezers deep in the sticks with ancient tractors being fined for speeding on motorways, miles away. You'll need to show that the plate refers to a shored-up caravan - and not, presumably, a car...

Thanks for this suggestion Jane, this might not prove since when it was parked, but it might show our sincerity. We also have the possibility to request a copy of the photograph taken by the radar. In these cases, do you think that we have to pay the fine and contest? Or just request the photograph and contest? If they can produce a photograph dated 24th of December, then it is impossible that it will show our caravan.

Why don't you take a 'photo of your caravan and tell them it has been put away for the winter and you were not there.

We were once sent a parking ticket for Brighton on Christmas Eve when we were decorating our Christmas Tree in Stroud. When they looked into it a bit further, the colour of the cars did not match and we were sent a very scratty letter of apology.

They don't always get it right, but we assume that they do!

This could be a possibility. I first thought that the camera didn't properly photographed the plate number and I was sent the fine in error.

So are you saying your plates have been cloned? and it wasn't you?