Speeding fine in France for Irish registered car

dbs103

Hi all.

Just back from driving through a bit of France. I think I got snapped by two speed cameras over the two weeks.

I was in an Irish registered car. I know some EU wide directive came out a couple of years back to deal with things like this.

Just wondering if this has happened to anyone else and if the French police bothered sending a fine. If so, how long till it was received and did you pay it?

Wouldn't mind, but when I checked my speed after the camera flashed I was only 7 or 8 kph above.

Cheers.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Wait for it to arrive and then bin it...unless you go back to france regularly?

dbs103

Often drive through if we're going to Spain or up towards the Netherlands.

Comhrá

If it arrives, pay it and be done with it. You'll have it forgotten in a month.

Leave it unpaid and you just might be unlucky to be pulled over in the future if driving in France with possible repercussions.

homingbird

Well it wont come registered post so you can claim you never got it so forget it.

marieholmfan

https://www.antai.gouv.fr/?lang=en
If it ever arrives (which it won't)

Del2005

homingbird wrote: »

Well it wont come registered post so you can claim you never got it so forget it.

Does French law except that as an excuse? The OP regularly drives through France so there's a chance they could be stopped again and since the French Police will bring you to an ATM to pay traffic fines I can see them taking the OP somewhere for having an outstanding traffic fine.

TomOnBoard

dbs103 wrote: »

Hi all.

Just back from driving through a bit of France. I think I got snapped by two speed cameras over the two weeks.

I was in an Irish registered car. I know some EU wide directive came out a couple of years back to deal with things like this.

Just wondering if this has happened to anyone else and if the French police bothered sending a fine. If so, how long till it was received and did you pay it?

Wouldn't mind, but when I checked my speed after the camera flashed I was only 7 or 8 kph above.

Cheers.

They don't process Irish cars from automatic cameras AFAIK.

If you're caught by a Gendarme that's a different story.

spaceHopper

Just back from France, got nailed doing 117 in 110 zone, 45 euro fine. Do I pay it or go on the run. I hope points don't follow

al2009

If they are anything like the Spanish, it gets passed to a debt collection agency who will send on the fine, best to pay it and forget about it.

Tommiekly84

Got one myself today. I'll pay it I think

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120755396#Comment_120755396

No points.

grogi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/107409970#Comment_107409970

Yes. That always works. /s

Seve OB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120862160#Comment_120862160

They must have sent out a batch 😊

97 in a 90 zone, but they will call it 92 in case of anomalies

probably best to pay it based on the fact I’ll probably go there again in the future…….. might give it a week or 2 though first to see if any more arrive

blackwhite

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120862639#Comment_120862639

Once was travelling through CDG with a colleague who was taken aside at passport control over unpaid speeding fines. Took 90 min or so to get resolved and he had to pay them before being released to avoid being arrested. From memory, he had to pay something like 3 times the original fines.

He said it was "a couple" so not sure exactly how many were O/S to trigger being on the passport watchlist!

cpoh1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120863161#Comment_120863161

Wow, so they managed to link the car registration name to a passport ID. New one for me.

Tommiekly84

I think I got 4 flashes over the 2 weeks going just over 80kph. 86 in an 80 fairly harsh. I'll just pay I think as I'll be back next year and do t need the hassle

chrisd2019

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120864236#Comment_120864236

Why not bring a car with a different registration next time ?

blackwhite

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120863365#Comment_120863365

We both would have been in France 1-2 times every month over a 5 year period, and usually every second trip involved a rental car and travelling to sites around France. I’d suspect he had an accumulation of unpaid fines that put him on someone’s radar somewhere.

Drivers license is recorded when you make a rental, so if so inclined name, nationality and DOB could be obtained and be flagged into various systems

peter4918

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120862639#Comment_120862639

how long did it take for the ticket to come?

For Forks Sake

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120864331#Comment_120864331

Or go one step further

Seve OB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120864503#Comment_120864503

Came today

dated 4th July

offence 28th june

Tommiekly84

Got another one today dated the 25th july

Seve OB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120866205#Comment_120866205

sh1te

but i assume you mean 25th june?

what was date of your first one?

Tommiekly84

Correct

dohouch

I got a registered letter from Spain, €10 fine!

Offence, my rental did not have a log book , car reg certificate, fault of car hire company.

Anyway I paid it. Don't want hassle down the road.

josip

Has anyone ever gotten a fine in the post from the Austrians? Either a speeding fine or vignette fine?

Asking for a friend :)

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120867087#Comment_120867087

That's very strange, particularly as the car hire company must have provided your contact details to the authorities to allow them to send the fine to you.

pat_sconce

Virtually impossible to avoid the European fines (same with non Irish drivers here unable to avoid Irish fines)

It all changed about 5 years ago but in reality it only came into force in 2020, but with COVID restrictions very few people were travelling.

Be especially wary of Spain where the fines are very substantial and increase with the speed.

StudentDad

Great to see :) If people come over here from another part of the EU and we fine them, only right and proper that if we go somewhere else in the Union and flout the law that those penalties follow us home.

John G

Got one myself as well. 88 in an 80. Fingers crossed it's the only one!

necstandards

Got one today, €45 in France July 9th. could be worse, hopefully wont get any more

Just bear in mind that UK drivers can only be perused by debt collection agencies. Irish drivers can potentially be prosecuted in France with the penalties applied here!

https://e-justice.europa.eu/388/EN/payment_of_fines#:~:text=The%20principle%20of%20mutual%20recognition,which%20the%20penalties%20are%20imposed.

chiefwiggum

I bloody got one today too.. offence was 12/07/23 . Doing 80 in a 70! Suppose I may pay it!

mikeecho

Were these speeding tickets from a speed camera or from a policeman

??

France uses a combination of fixed cameras, traditional police speed traps and also rolling ANPR cameras that move in traffic. They've really cracked down hard on speeding in the last decade or so.

https://www.lanouvellerepublique.fr/poitiers/vienne-les-radars-mobiles-prives-arrivent-au-mois-d-octobre

You won't know you're caught.

browne_rob5

Ours was a fixed camera and think most of the others seem to be too.

mikeecho

Since the rollout of the 'shengan info system 2' police forces across Europe have access to a lot more info than previously, regarding foreign people and vehicles.

This seems to be why fines are being sent, where previously they would have been ignored.

Now, the big question is, whether they will follow up on unpaid fines.

The follow up is that you can be prosecuted in France for non payment (potentially in your absence too if you don't show up), and the penalty can then be implemented by an Irish court. That system's being rolled out at the moment.

SIS II contains info on Vehicle, boat, and aircraft registration and has been active since 2022 for those. It's relatively recent. Ireland has only been plugged into that system since 2021.

chiefwiggum

I paid it.. feck it, its not worth the hassle when I go back for dodging a 45 euro fine.

josip

In case it's of interest to anyone, apparently the statute of limitations for speeding fines in France is 12 months.

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/checklist-for-travel-in-france-advice-appreciated.201155/page-7#post-7745998

https://www.verkeersrecht.nl/artikel/vr-2019115-road-traffic-offences-europe

Traffic infractions become time-barred after one year and criminal offences (e.g. drunk driving) after six years. As regards the enforcement of penalties, the limitation period is three years for misdemeanours and five years for serious traffic offences.

mrcheez

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120863365#Comment_120863365

Interesting.. I have unpaid parking fines from 20 years ago in Australia (they never had my Irish address, all fines were addressed to a hostel in Sydney)... have always thought my passport might trigger if I decided to go back, but guess this proves it might.

Anyway I saw everywhere while I was there so no need to go back... just hope work doesn't send me there one day 🤣

DellyBelly

Are these rented cars our are they Irish cars that people have travelled over on in the ferry....

Just seen the Subject title - ignore that question

TedBundysDriver

I got a 100 euro fine in Spain 2 years ago on my motorbike for doing 62 in a 50 zone, it was 50 euro if paid with 60 days which i didn't bother paying. The letter stated if non payment they would issue the full fine again by post and if not paid would proceed with the legal route etc... I just totally ignored it and never heard a thing again. I've been back to Spain since and no problems at border.

I'd say it's just not worth the hassle for them to dick around for a tiny amount of money like that now if they'd caught me doing 180 in 80 zone maybe it would be different i'm not sure.

Seve OB

paid mine this morning

looked over it again and it turns out if i was going 3kmph faster, i would have had no fine 😎

there is a technical margin of 5kmph of anything up to 100 and 10kmph of anything over 100

i was clocked at 97 in a 90 zone so the speed used is 92

if i was clocked at 100, the speed used would have been 90

mgbgt1978

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120911742#Comment_120911742

But Ireland is not part of the Schengen Area ??? Why would non-Schengen areas share information with Schengen authorities ?

CelticRambler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120955678#Comment_120955678

A bit of misinterpretation going on there. Yes, the statute of limitations is 12 months, but that's for the authorities to get around to sending you a fine, and with the additional clarification that the 12-month period can be interrupted and/or re-started if they have to chase someone else for your details (e.g. a rental agency). Once the fine is issued, there's no 12-month limit on when they can collect it ... and as so many on here have noticed, the French are pretty damn quick at getting the fines out, well before their 12-month limit comes into sight.

As regards the relevance of any Schengen arrangement to Irish drivers, well that'd come into play if you happened to be tootling around any of France's border regions. As there are no border posts any more, Customs operate flying squads in a zone about 75km deep, aswell as certain "cross-roads" routes well inside the country, and they will have access to all fines registered to your vehicle. Too many unpaid Schengen Area fines would certainly encourage them to invite you to the local commisariat to explain yourself ...

CelticRambler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120956018#Comment_120956018

That's not entirely correct. You're conflating two different systems. For fixed and temporary speed cameras, it's 5km/h up to 100km/h and then 5% ; for mobile (on-board/ANPR-type) radars, it 10km/h up to 100, then 10%.

Might be worth knowing also the amount of the fine goes down as the authorised speed goes up. If you're caught speeding in a 50km/h zone, the fine is about double that for roads with a 70, 80 or 90 limit.

se25

Bought car in UK and was bringing it home via the M50 Toll..genuinely forgot to pay the toll-fee ..reregistered the car here in Ireland and many months later received a fine for non payment of M50 toll from a UK company that deals with cross border non payments. Fine was not a lot, but be warned...