Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Frogs with speed guns

Yet the UK "local government road safety program vans" in our own country is not the same ? I do not mean this to be rude to you howard. Clearly my cynicism works differently.

Road side bandits never seem to go away. They just gain funny accents and daft uniforms that indicate they are state sanctioned.

It remains tax, they just enjoy the silly season bounty we provide them.

Had there been a different outcome to WW2 we could well have been driving on autobahns "Toll Free" I guess that's life !!

An interesting article and to quote a section maybe worth a little thought: -

"Known as rallyes sauvages (or wild rallies) in France, these events typically follow public roads towards the sun and sea in southern Europe. They attract wealthy, speed-loving owners of rare supercars. In 2006, police seized a Ferrari 360 and Porsche 911 for the offence of reckless driving. The two drivers, both British, were travelling at more than 150mph during that year’s Cannonball Run. At a subsequent court hearing, the cars were permanently confiscated and auctioned off. The Ferrari owner bought back his car for €88,000 (then £60,000)".

I think these cowboys would have been facing a ban in GB for this "track day" behaviour on the public highway. My understanding of the GB law is that if you exceed any speed limit in excess of 30mph you can be banned from driving for a specified period up to 6 months.

So maybe speeding in France is not as Draconian as at first glance it would seem, I seem to remember reading somewhere that the Netherlands act in a similar fashion to their Gallic cousins.

p.s. The noddy vans abound on the A303 through route to the West Country and they don't care which country you come from.

No it isnt the same in a number of important ways:

1/ you get warning of fixed radar traps and of the location of mobile ones. If you get caught its clear you werent paying attention. In that sense they arent really traps
2/ there is a tolerance. OK its a bit vague but chances are you wont get done under 80 in a 70 limit for example
3/ we dont target foreigners and in particular one other nationality as the French do. If anything, we go easy on visitors because plod doesnt have an ability to make on the spot fines and possibly pocket the money. Quite the opposite, the legal system means that foreign visitors usually get away with it

And its not just speed limits in France. There have been several reports of police action at road junctions, targetting british visitors but letting the locals off. Possibly down to the way that local french police are organised, the powers of the local mayor etc. Visitors dont have votes.

To echo howard, in the UK to be caught speeding by a fixed speed camera or a mobile camera van you are really guilty of driving without due care and attention.

There are a few unmarked Police cars that will stop people speeding but normally only when the driver of the speeding car is behaving stupidly. In Wiltshire the tolerance is "10% +1" so to be caught and given a penalty (£60) on a main road you have to be driving at 67mph.

More importantly if you are just speeding, say 72mph in a 60 limit you are most probably offered a "speed awareness" training course, you have to pay for the training but there is no penalty.

Only if driving at more than 30mph over the limit does it get serious, there is a risk of arrest, loss of licence and prison.

There are NO penalties for silly rules like not having a Hazmat Jacket, Fire Extinguisher, First Aid Kit and so on.

The UK is not a Police state.

Yet.

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Hmmm.

Fair point, someone please pass the hat. Salt anyone ?

I do agree all those points but in my limited defence I assume those as part of the game as opposed being outside of it.

I still stand by the bandits bit.

Just to correct one misnomer, police in this country can collect "on the spot fines" via Graduated penalty tickets. Not all officers have them yet but it is coming.