Nine9Sixer

anyone have experience with these? Was recently in Brittany and after speeding for some time in my rental, noticed the signs for fixed radar and then the actual radars/cameras. i think i buzzed by at least one of them ; ) was probably going 140km or so (86mph) in 110km zones.

do they pick up and issue tix to every speeder or random? is there a discretionary buffer (10 km over)? do they charge to the credit card on account with the car rental agency? can i dispute with my amex since i suppose i could theoretically assert defenses? btw, france has a reciprocity agreement so that our US licenses are valid there, and vice versa. just curious if anyone has had any experience with these. TIA.

rountreed

Till they run out of film you get the ticket! Less than 10km over the speed limit in Germany is around 10-15 Euro ticket. Buy a TomTom GPS and pay a yearly fee and you will get all the Safety Cameras within Europe along with routing information for traffic. The tomtom was the best money I have ever spent and saved me multiple times but note it will not have the locations of temp cameras they set up for only 1-2 hours at different locations. You can also buy a V1 radar detector and go into the menu and change over to EU mode, illegal as hell and one huge ticket if you are caught so be careful.
Best of luck!

wetstuff

RTD: That's no 'Hurricane Hunter' ..or Google mapper. ....we're not still flying the E. German border over there?

SrfCity

I'm guessing they'll charge the car rental company later and you'll get a bill. You could contact the rental co. or just see what happens.

BSL

According to my mother-inlaw, the buffer for the radar boxes in the Paris area is 5 kph, so it was nice to have the warning signs for the upcoming box.

I remember looking over our Hertz agreement and if you notify them of an upcoming ticket there was little to no service charge that they applied. If they get the ticket and have to pay it for you without being notified by you, then there was a somewhat sizeable service charge/penalty.

Fahrer

Hello,
I live in Germany and, unfortunately, have received a few traffic tickets over the years ( without actually ever interacting with a police officer....lots of cameras!). Normally they knock off ten percent of your actual speed for the calculation and then send you a nice letter with your picture. If you are going only 20 kph or so you will need to pay €20+/-. ....... very serious to go more than 10kph over the limit in the towns.
I know many people who have lost their license for a few weeks ( but you can pick which weeks..... e.g. weeks that you are on vacation ( out of the country). Bye the way the agreements between European governments are with individual states ( not the US) as the US is really not involved with drivers licences, etc, and these agements can vary significantly.

Soulteacher

Sorry, not sure about France, but in Germany they can only charge the vehicle owner for non-moving violations. For moving violations, the driver has to be determined (otherwise you'd just register your car with your grandfather or some other non-driver and speed all the time).

Of course, I'm not sure to what degree the rental car company would argue that you must have been the driver because you signed the contract and other drivers were excluded - but the two rental car speeding tickets that I received in the past ten years while visiting Germany did not follow me to the United States.

I don't see a reason why France should be different, but I do not know this.

eljeffo64

I live in France now and have discussed this topic at length here - there is little lattitude between the posted limit and the threshold for a fine - 90 euros normally unless its way over. More than 40 kph over the limit is will result in an immediate confiscation of the licence at the roadside for 10 - 15 days (not such a problem with cameras!) even a "foreign" licence - this can be a pain if you don't have another person with you who is entitled to drive as they will impound the car too.

There is no reciprocal arrangement for points on the licence etc with the UK so I doubt if there is anything similar with the US - so just worry a bit about the fine (but I'd do/say nothing until you hear from someone).

Alstoy

Don't try radar detectors there. I've seen people hauled off for that. TomToms your best bet.

Nine9Sixer

Thanks guys! so, i'm looking at 90 euros for each violation? hmmm.....
well, as long as no points and no license confiscation, not a bad price for a good lesson, i suppose. the lession being: what happened to good ole-fashioned french liberte?

FYI, i found a bunch of websites listing the locations of the cameras throughout different regions of france. http://www.radarsfixes.com/

eljeffo64

Thanks for the link - btw it's ok to use gps based "detectors" here but not laser detecors/blockers (criminal offence - car taken away etc!!)...

wdonovan

Just rent a French car. They don't go fast enough to get a ticket.

eljeffo64

you clearly haven't seen them drive! ...