word of warning

MoonMan wrote:
Nigel (Remove NOSPAM) wrote:

What's the rush ? What's it matter if it takes 15hrs on the road
rather than 10, take it easy & you wont have to worry . :-)


A it wasn't me gov, it was my wife

seriously though I'm only talking about 90MPH (140kph?).
BTW do the cameras know if its raining?


Yes... they are installing a fully digital system which will take into
account 110kp/h restrictions.

I don't know how they will effect UK drivers, other than a Europe wide
database of car registrations went into effect on the 1/Jan/2004 to make
it easier to track accidents. Maybe they will use this to track
speeding drivers too?

On Fri, 09 Jan 2004 14:24:09 +0100, Ian Spare
wrote:

Nigel (Remove NOSPAM) wrote:
What's the rush ? What's it matter if it takes 15hrs on the road rather
than 10, take it easy & you wont have to worry . :-)



Quite. We were passed by a whole stream of English and Dutch cars
between Cluses and Geneva on Saturday doing speeds around, I would
guess, 180kph. We wondered how many of the English cars would make it to
Calais without passing a camera.

Heh.

Drove back from Soldeu yesterday, 1000km in all, keeping to about
150-160 where possible, which meant we arrived home at a reasonable
hour to have a relaxed evening. Had we stuck to the limits it would
have been at least two hours longer, probably more (bearing in mind
the reduced limits for roadworks and rain).

According to the map we passed at least four of the fixed cameras, but
I'm fairly sure we weren't flashed once. Certainly didn't see any of
the alleged cameras (and I'm normally quite good at spotting them in
the UK and Switzerland).

As far as I know, and I hope it's still true, the French still don't
normally try and trace Swiss-plated vehicles :-}

--
Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
Ski Club of Great Britain - http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.

"PG" wrote in message ...
With the new automatic cameras in France, if anyone is thinking of using
a radar detector.... leave it at home. Anyone caught with one is banned
from driving on the spot, the detector confiscated. The ban from driving
in France can be as much as 3 years. If you're the only driver in the
car and at the port of arrival, you'll be put straight back on the boat.
If elsewhere in France you'll either have to get your motoring
association to repatriate the car, or get someone from the UK to collect
the car on your behalf.

The authorities in France are determined to crack down and the
ports/airports are being provided with a list of banned drivers. Anyone
previously banned re-entering France faces a heavy fine and a possible
custodial sentence.

The cameras are pretty hard to spot by the way, often hidden behind
signs, bridges etc. Hundreds more being introduced in the next few
months.

Pete

Are these on the toll motorways?

"Ace" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 09 Jan 2004 14:24:09 +0100, Ian Spare
wrote:

Nigel (Remove NOSPAM) wrote:
What's the rush ? What's it matter if it takes 15hrs on the road rather
than 10, take it easy & you wont have to worry . :-)



Quite. We were passed by a whole stream of English and Dutch cars
between Cluses and Geneva on Saturday doing speeds around, I would
guess, 180kph. We wondered how many of the English cars would make it to
Calais without passing a camera.

Heh.

Drove back from Soldeu yesterday, 1000km in all, keeping to about
150-160 where possible, which meant we arrived home at a reasonable
hour to have a relaxed evening. Had we stuck to the limits it would
have been at least two hours longer, probably more (bearing in mind
the reduced limits for roadworks and rain).

According to the map we passed at least four of the fixed cameras, but
I'm fairly sure we weren't flashed once. Certainly didn't see any of
the alleged cameras (and I'm normally quite good at spotting them in
the UK and Switzerland).

As far as I know, and I hope it's still true, the French still don't
normally try and trace Swiss-plated vehicles :-}

--
Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
Ski Club of Great Britain - http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the
Ski Club.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but the fixed digital cameras don't flash, they
take a note of every vehicle and the elapsed time between 2 points, all
those below a preset time get a ticket, at least that's what happens here.
They are a lot smaller than Gatso's or Truvelo's. looking more like a cctv
camera.

I drove back from Savoie at 140-150 but made sure to slow down in the
tunnels where there were warnings of the cameras, I was still regularly
passed at this speed, even in the rain.

Bill

Sounds like a lot of stress to me just for a couple of days, I admit I
have done it many times when I lived in the UK but with cheap airlines,
fast trains, I wouldnt bother now.

"you lose a day's skiing, simple as that"! You lose a nights sleep as
well which is far more dangerous when you hit the slopes !!


Nigel



Alan Rowland wrote:
Nigel (Remove NOSPAM) wrote:

What's the rush ? What's it matter if it takes 15hrs on the road
rather than 10, take it easy & you wont have to worry . :-)


What's it matter? Er....if I leave work in Leeds at 5pm Friday and get a
10:30 ferry out of Dover, which arrives in Calais at about 01:00 local time,
I can be skiing in Chamonix or Alpe d'Huez or Tignes by 10:30.

I wouldn't reccommend doing more than about 90-95mph in France, but if it
takes you 15hrs from Calais to the mountains, you lose a day's skiing,
simple as that!

Al

Nigel (Remove NOSPAM) wrote:
Sounds like a lot of stress to me just for a couple of days, I admit I
have done it many times when I lived in the UK but with cheap
airlines, fast trains, I wouldnt bother now.

"you lose a day's skiing, simple as that"! You lose a nights sleep as
well which is far more dangerous when you hit the slopes !!


and even more dangerous when you drive home!


--
Chris *:-)

Downhill Good, Uphill BAD!

www.suffolkvikings.org.uk

"Roger" wrote in message
m...
| "PG" wrote in message
...
|
| The cameras are pretty hard to spot by the way, often hidden behind
| signs, bridges etc. Hundreds more being introduced in the next few
| months.
|
| Pete
|
| Are these on the toll motorways?

They're being introduced throughout France, but concentrating on the
most dangerous areas such as the Paris ring, various tunnels, etc. Take
a look at http://www.radarsfixes.com/ for more details.

Pete

"Nigel (Remove NOSPAM)" wrote in message
...
Sounds like a lot of stress to me just for a couple of days, I admit I
have done it many times when I lived in the UK but with cheap airlines,
fast trains, I wouldnt bother now.

More stressful with a girlfriend who is pathologicaly afraid of flying and
spends the whole week worrying about the flight home!! LOL!!

"you lose a day's skiing, simple as that"! You lose a nights sleep as
well which is far more dangerous when you hit the slopes !!

Do you? Then you did it wrong!! I've just got back from Val Cenis which is
near the Frejus tunnel on the A43. I left at 11am on saturday, got home to
Brum about 1am via Calais-Dover ferry. I was tired, yes, but I wasn't
dangerously tired, and I didn't lose any skiing time. It just takes a little
bit of planning.

As for hassle... considering my experience with Geneva airport, hire cars,
transfer coaches, airlines losing my boots, skis, or anything else, dodgy
taxis, dodgy Customs here and abroad, and so on, and so on... all this makes
me reach for my car keys for what was actually a very pleasant drive through
France with little stress (I avoided Paris, of course!), nice roads,
everything I wanted for my holiday in the car (plus a new pair of Rossi B2's
on the way back!! LOL). I had the M6 to look forward to on the trip, but
hey, everything has a little bit of a downer! LOL

"PG" wrote:

With the new automatic cameras in France, if anyone is thinking of using
a radar detector.... leave it at home. Anyone caught with one is banned
from driving on the spot, the detector confiscated.


Perhaps I should have expanded on this subject:

Under French law operation of a radar detectors enables the flics to
fine you the top limit on the spot, FFR5000. This is because

a) They are French

b) They use the old continuous output radar detectors which you can
hear from the next county.

If you taking a detector, which I recommend for driving in France,
keep it out of sight. Better still, fit one of the internally wired
detectors which cannot be seen.

The game has changed slightly with tunnel cameras and detectors,
especially at high speeds, are not sufficient to give warning. You
need one of the jammers. Again, preferably one of the internally wired
versions. This will grant immunity from unattended radar traps but I
recommend the detector for is used in addition since the flic manning
the tripod-radar is going to get excited if he sees a car hurtle past
at 320kph and nothing appear on the read-out.


The ban from driving
in France can be as much as 3 years. If you're the only driver in the
car and at the port of arrival, you'll be put straight back on the boat.

"you'll be put straight back on the boat"

Except... there are no French customs at the ports in winter. Big
deal. And a glance at your passport is not going to do much good.
Maybe they memorise the list ?


If elsewhere in France you'll either have to get your motoring
association to repatriate the car, or get someone from the UK to collect
the car on your behalf.


Can be disregarded for most purposes. There are no customs at most
borders and police presence outside automotive-recreation hotspots
like the Jura passes is sparse by European standards, not least
because of the number of flics on sick leave, generally avoiding
duties, etc.


The authorities in France are determined to crack down


'crack down'

Yeah - Crack down on their lack of income from foreign drivers. Not
'crack down' on the second-favorite national sport: Driving like
assholes.


and the
ports/airports are being provided with a list of banned drivers. Anyone
previously banned re-entering France faces a heavy fine and a possible
custodial sentence.


Airports provided with a list ? Gee... better not land my car an
airport.


As soon as time allows I shall post a guide for foreign drivers
speeding through France taking into account the recent changes.

On Fri, 27 Feb 2004 17:11:19 +0000, funkraum
wrote:

As soon as time allows I shall post a guide for foreign drivers
speeding through France taking into account the recent changes.

Do that. I'll post mine now:

Rule 1. Have Swiss plates.

That's all, folks...

--
Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
Ski Club of Great Britain - http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.