I have lived here 8 years and have received two speeding fines by post. I paid them promptly so as not to have to pay the higher fee and nothing more was said.
Unfortunately however, I have just been stopped by a gendarme at less than 50m from my house for speeding. When they saw my rather tatty UK license - the same paper edition one I received at the tender age of 18 with no photo and much sellotape - I was obliged to pay the fine on the spot by French cheque and was told to change my license for a French one. They had no idea if there was a time delay to respect for doing so.
So, if you are penalised by post and pay by post nothing happens but if you get stopped face to face then you do have to change as they check your license.
I have had many gendarmes during control checks telling me to change my license but the law states that you only have to if you break a traffic law, which they don't like when I reply but say no more. Unfortunately for me, my time is up concerning this loophole - c'est la vie and I had a good run!
I got stopped for speeding by the Gendarmes in Lombez. I paid the on the spot fine and presented my UK licence. The gendarme rolled his eyes and said that it wasn't worth the paperwork for him to deduct the points, so I thought I had got away with it. More than a year later I received a letter from the gendarmerie in Lombez telling me I was legally obliged to change my UK licence to a french one - no mention of my speeding fine. I ignored it and subsequently 2 gendarmes turned up at my front door to 'remind' me (it's a small village, so immediately everyone knew the police had been to my house!) It worked, I changed my licence straight away, and then 2 weeks later got a letter saying I had 3 points removed for 3 years :-(
STOP signs, I see... I'll just have to paranoid about those as well now :D Had absolutely no idea about any 5 sec rule.
Thanks, good to know. I travel a lot, so was a bit worried I'd be away when it arrives...
Unfortunately it was in the evening, so chances are they'd been there for a while already.
Until I read the Swiss stuff this morning I was a torpedo man myself. I suspect I shall remain so.
Anyway, sum total Finn, of all of that is probably - get stopped by the flic, be quiet, present all documents and then carefully put them all back where they belong, pay fine, keep mouth shut, so not appeal or do anything rash and probably nothing will come of it.
Exactly the same thing happened to me-I had earlier asked DVLA at Swansea about my situation and they said that I was not able to put a French address on my licence ;didnt need(certainly at the time)to change my licence and that I should not worry about it.When I got the fine and points in France I was worried but my French son-in-law was sure that the French authorities had no power .I have been very careful whilst driving in France since then-about 5 years ago,have never had any communication from either French or English Licencing authorities since.
I've been sitting here pretending to drive and actually five seconds with the gear neutralising and so on (without being in neutral it is apparently only a PAUSE not a STOP) it is well above five seconds but 20! Never. I could be half way to the next village by then! However, I do not think they are spinning a yarn and also why on earth would anybody bother to explain it in detail to the police who seem to know very little about anything as I know from our friend who is police municipal! OK, minimum five seconds, emphasising minimum, seems reasonable but who for pete's sakes is going to stopwatch it?
wasn't trying to split hairs although I think that's what I did...! Thank you Brian - you had the time to delve a little deeper. The vehicle simply has to come to a physical stop (I did 3 years in the Met Police back in the mid 80s and I don't think it's changed since ;-)
Bonne journée à tous !
Andrew it wasn't me that got a PV for it, but the Flic was emphasising to an English friend who's French wasn't great and simply said "minimum 5 secondes pour marquer le stop" Actually when you think about it, once you have stopped, looked around, changed gear etc it is roughly 5 seconds lol. But as I said I think it was to emphasise the word STOP.
Well , let's depend on the highly dependable Swiss for that. My OH qualified in CH, she turned it in for her UK one but then recuped her CH so that she has two. In the Swiss driver's handbook they provided with the new issue licence it says the internationally preferred stop is around 20 seconds. That is calculated to be the necessary time to stop, go into neutral, removed hand from gear control and foot from clutch. Then look, re-engaged clutch, go into gear, signal and pull out gently. If something in oncoming then remain stationery until it or they pass and the road ahead is clear. Now could that be clearer?
The manual is open in front of me. It is beautifully explained in three languages and consistent over each. I passed my test in 1968 and must confess until looking this up right now I had no idea and have only seldom stopped properly....
It happened to me about 5 years ago - I always make sure my speed is under 50 when passing through Neulliac now. Nothing happened to my licence and I still have the same one although I think that the pooints are expired now. If I had reoffended it might have been a different tale ...
Just the same as the UK, the vehicle has to come to a complete stop - that's the difference between a stop and a give way/cédez le passage. Standard across Europe if I'm not mistaken ;-)
not sure where you get the 5s from although I have heard peopel being done for it but the law simply says that you have to "marquer le stop" and defines no time...!
Article R415-6 du code de la route :
A certaines intersections indiquĂ©es par une signalisation dite stop, tout conducteur doit marquer un temps d'arrĂȘt Ă la limite de la chaussĂ©e abordĂ©e. Il doit ensuite cĂ©der le passage aux vĂ©hicules circulant sur l'autre ou les autres routes et ne s'y engager qu'aprĂšs s'ĂȘtre assurĂ© qu'il peut le faire sans danger.
[...]
Si le flic a fait référence aux 5 secondes sur le PV, c'est à contester. Ses rÚgles personnelles ne sont pas opposables.
When you come to a STOP sign in France you are obliged by law to stop for a minimum of 5 seconds..really STOP, not just ease yourself forward because there's nothing around you !
You should get something through the post from fixed radars within a couple of weeks, mobile ones take a little longer but not that long (or didn't last time I got flashed by a mobile one!) If you're really lucky you'll be one of the vehicles flashed whilst they're still setting up the radar and so no fine ;-)
Hi,
I also got "flashed" the other day. From an plain, unmarked car on the side of the road. Searched for some info and found this thread. Thanks for the info already here.
How long does it normally take for them to send the letter? I guess 8 months is not the norm?
I have a French address and French plates, but a Swedish license.
I got a notice that I'd had 1 point deducted for speeding, the date of the offence was about 8 months previous and I'd never recieved a notice of a fine to be paid. 6months later I got another letter saying it had been re-instated.
more french administration...
Mind you, I'd been driving in France for about 5 years without even a british licence - I'd lost it somewhere even before moving here - got stopped by a gendarme with a radar gun who just followed me to the nearest cash machine to pay an on-the-spot fine for the speed, nothing for driving without a licence. Eventually had to get in touch with the DVLA in Swansea for a copy of my entitlements, which I took to the Prefecture, so now I can drive motorcycles, cars, buses and coaches, tractors, HGVs, etc... on a genuine french licence. They don't seem to understand that a car licence is only a provisional for all the other groups in the UK
When I went on a "stage de récuperation de points" last year, the guy who ran the course said to expect far more controls and fines once the election is over in May. This is because France has to reduce the number of road deaths to below 3000 by the end of the year or pay a fine to the EU for each additional death. Each EU country has its own target figure to achieve.
You can check the number of points on your licence on-line but you have to request an access code from your local prefecture.
Don't worry, they don't physically put points on your licence, they keep a central register of them. I know - I got one last year, they wait for you to pay the fine, which is an acknowledgement that you were driving then they send you a letter shortly afterwards.
If it is only one point, it is only valid for 6 months.
When I went to change my licence, they told me I didn't need to. I said I would prefer to, since I no longer had a Belgian address, and if something happened to me, at least I would have some ID on me that could speed things up in getting to my OH, or family.
She reluctantly processed my application, muttering that if I ever had an infraction she would also need it, but I think they're sorta scared of having to do paperwork in there.
yep, code de la route and other laws state you have to change your licence once you commit an offence, but it took them half a dozen tickets before they summonsed me and made me exchange mine, the points come off automatically now and you get a letter after the fine, sometimes months after it, telling you you've lost points. the danger is being stopped by a zealous flic who may backtrack your fine's history, insist that you exchange your licence and put the boot in so you lose the points from previous fines too :-O