Only in France

logicfry

logicfry

logicfry

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Joined
20 Jun 2013
Posts
261
Have known for a long time that many of the laws in france are very backward or at best just protectionist. One example that I've been aware of due to driving through the country is the ban on radar detactors and even stanav that lists speed camera locations.

Having lived in the mountains there for a number of years, the locals would regularly wave down oncoming traffic to warn of police road blocks or check points. Just in the last year or so there have been facebook pages listing local police check points. Turns out this is aginst the law too.

15 people have been banned for a month for posting information about a road side check on a facebook page.

way to go france.. fools.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/1..._after_froggy_facebook_speed_camera_postings/
 
Facebook once again being the problem. I don't know how many speed camera setups I've passed and then flashed at oncoming drivers. If they didn't take the hint, their own fault. Didn't need ****ing Facebook for it.
 
I was a member of the Facebook page the article refers to, it very rarely posted much useful information anyway.

Most people out here use the mobile app Waze, and parked up police / speed traps seem to be reported almost as soon as they set up, to the extent that I've never seen one that hasn't already been reported on Waze.

Their speed enforcement is a lot more sneaky than in the UK - they will quite literally hide behind trees, bridges etc and they frequently use unmarked cars with speed cameras installed in them. For foreign drivers like me it's pretty much a non issue, as their camera cars/static cameras can't get you anyway, and unless you're doing something particularly crazy, the police parked at the tolls will just issue you with a fine (although I've passed several quite a bit over the limit and they haven't even bothered stopping me).

This massive emphasis on speed has created a funny kind of driving style where almost everybody obeys the limit, but disregards every other rule. It's quite common to see people sitting only a couple of feet behind another car at 80MPH, and overtaking in crazy places because there aren't solid white lines so that must mean it's definitely OK to overtake. :rolleyes:
 
scrivz69 said:
Don't speed, that's the answer, we all do it, so we all deserve a slap.
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Indeed.

Don't see the problem. Even though I'm sure we all like a bit of pedal to the metal - I certainly enjoy the power of my car, within reason.

The only argument I'd have is that if the speed camera helped keep me at the speed limit, but that's what the speedometer is for ultimately.

Whilst it may seem I'm being defensive because it is France, I don't really see the issue. What I do think is ridiculous is spending time and money on clamping down on this when there are a lot more things to concentrate on instead.
 
I'm sure the french driving school teaches them not to overtake if you can see other cars coming the other way.. so to make sure they can't see it coming they wait till a blind corner to overtake!! had this happen a number of times on the main mountain road, then they are doing only 90kph on the straights (the limit).

with uk plates the fixed cams (and even the manned ones) are not really a problem
 
Freefaller said:
What I do think is ridiculous is spending time and money on clamping down on this when there are a lot more things to concentrate on instead.
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Because it makes money. Ten cameras in the UK brought in £12 million in 3 years. Can't be fighting crime, gotta make cheddar.
 
logicfry said:
I'm sure the french driving school teaches them not to overtake if you can see other cars coming the other way.. so to make sure they can't see it coming they wait till a blind corner to overtake!! had this happen a number of times on the main mountain road, then they are doing only 90kph on the straights (the limit).

with uk plates the fixed cams (and even the manned ones) are not really a problem
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France driving standards used to be awful, however there has been a hard push to improve driving standards, and reduce road deaths, and it has worked, the number of road deaths over the last 10 years has been dramatically reduced.
 
OhEsEcks said:
Because it makes money. Ten cameras in the UK brought in £12 million in 3 years. Can't be fighting crime, gotta make cheddar.
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Unfortunately it is an easy way to make money - don't get me wrong I'm sure we all enjoy a bit of fast driving - but I'd far rather be stopped by a police officer that is patrolling keeping an eye on behaviour of driving, and people using mobile phones etc... and be able to make a discretionary decision on the quality of the driving.

I'd far rather share the road with people who drive too fast, but are observant, leave decent gaps, and have a decent amount of skill to react to a change in the driving environment compared to a road full of slower driving cars, with people updating facebook and checking themselves out in the mirror.
 
Freefaller said:
I'd far rather share the road with people who drive too fast, but are observant, leave decent gaps, and have a decent amount of skill to react to a change in the driving environment compared to a road full of slower driving cars, with people updating facebook and checking themselves out in the mirror.
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I could have been hit a couple of days ago by a fella that was doing just that, or texting. The crazy part? I wasn't even in my car. I was walking the dog on the pavement. He was absolutely oblivious to what he was doing. I could see him coming very slowly (which made me nervous, as it was late at night and this is a UDA town) but I could see his face illuminated by a phone. Then he just started drifting to the left until he'd mounted the kerb and finally realised he should probably focus on driving. He was about ten metres away from me when he hit the kerb and slammed the brakes on. Absolute ****ing rocket. Phone users behind the wheel annoy me so much more than speeders.
 
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