From 1 January 2024, motorists will no longer lose licence points for speeding under 5 km/h.
Announced last April by the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, the decree putting an end to the deduction of points for speeding less than 5 km/h was published this Friday on the Official Journal.
“Small” speeding offences, below 5 km/h, currently punishable by a reduction of one point on the driving licence and a fixed fine ranging from 68 to 135 euros, will only be punished by fines from January.
The reduction of one licence point will only apply for speeding between 5 km/h and 20 km/h over the actual speed limit.
I may be being a bit dense but I thought that was always the case, certainly I have always set my speed control to 4 over the limit, thus giving me a 1 km ‘cushion’ before heading into +5 territory. In actual fact my cushion was more than that because the car’s speedo was always above actual.
Hello David, prior to 01/01/2024, with the tolerance of 5kph meant if you were doing 61 in a 50 you would get a fine and 1 point, at it would be deemed to be 55kph.
Now if you do 61kph in a 50 you will get just a fine as it’s 5kph over the limit.
Oh I see, thank you, so it is only the point which has changed, not the conviction and fine which both stay the same.
It is a complicated business though. As a very high miler over the last 13 years or so I have collected many just over the top fines, usually by partly hidden or multiple change cameras and limits, plus a few simply by inattention. The re-imbursement scheme is bizarre though and I have several very old and spent ones still not cancelled. On the limited mileage I do these days it is of little consequence and I have more time to dawdle and take more notice of my surroundings.
I received a fine and 1 point deduction in August for doing 88 in an 80 zone. So does this mean that from January I could be doing 90 and only get a fine?
Do the new rules explain why I will get my deducted piont back as I have not broken any speeding law in the 4 months since August aa explained in the letter I received.
I thought it was 6 months @JohnBoy , has it changed recently then?
And am I right in thinking that it is 10 years to get the points back if you do infringe again in the 4 or 6 months? I used to think it was 3 years but I have older ones than that still not reimbursed.
If you are reported as doing 88 then you were actually doing 93, there is a 5kph allowance.
If you do 93 again in an 80 you will still get a point and a fine even from 01/01/2024.
1 point fines are valid for 6 months from when you pay the fine, as this is the date you admitted guilt.
However, if you get another point and pay within the 6 months it is moved out to 2 years and continues to be moved out every time you pay a fine within that 2 years.
So to not get a fine in an 80 with 5kph tolerance you could only do 90. However, I wouldn’t test this out if Gendarmes are controlling people.
It sounds to me like they give an extra 5kph grace when calculating your speed. So if your actual velocity is 88kph they count it as 83kph and log it accordingly. So if they send you a ticket saying you were doing 88kph then you actual speed was 93kph.
But it has been like that for years, which is why I said earlier that I always set the car limit to 54 in a 50 zone. And as I know that the car seems deliberately set at 5 above the true speed, my limiter cuts in at 50.
As far as I can see, only the points system has changed.
In addition, the margin of error of 5 km/h or 5% above 100 km/h for fixed speed cameras compared to 10 km/h and 10% respectively for mobile speed cameras will still apply. In other words, a motorist flashed by a fixed speed camera at 55 km/h on a road limited to 50 km/h will not receive a fine. And if he is flashed at 56 km/h by this same type of device, he will no longer lose points from January 1, 2024 but will continue to pay the fixed fine.
Taking away the 5kph tolerance, ie, 62 kph would be 57 kph.
Less than 5kph = 0 points
o 68€ outside city
o 135€ inside city
5 – 19 kph = -1 point
o 68€ if max speed is 50kph or less
o 135€ if max speed is above 50kph
Yes it’s been like that for years but you would have got a point previously now with the 5 kph tolerance and the 5 kph speed you won’t. See my last comment I have put the speeds with points up.
