Parking fines via video

From next Monday (16th January) around 100 surveillance cameras will be trained on the centre of Toulouse and police will use them to issue parking tickets to drivers who are badly or illegally parked.
Parking on double yellow lines, double parking, blocking pedestrian crossings, using reserved places could all lead to  PV being sent to the vehicle's registered owner. There will also be extra space in the pound for vehicles towed away.
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Where will you get "flashed"?

The ubiquitous "radars" - speed control cameras - are classified by department in the magazine Auto Plus showing that the national average number of flashes per day is about 15. Aveyron is the most law abiding department in the country with one camera, at Firmi on the RD 840, flashing on average only six times per day. Motorists on the A20 in Montauban on the other hand are flashed 78 times a day, the highest in the region.
The absolute record holder is in the Var at Adrets-de-l'Esterel which flashes on average 380 times per day.

Bi-directional radar. MaxPPP

Taglines' sub-editor can vouch that the most risky road is that linking Albi and Castres where (some years ago now) he was flashed twice in three weeks. Most minor infringements (ie less than 20kph above the limit) involve a penalty of 46 euros and loss of one point. Drivers who frequently travel longer distances may well find that a GPS which warns of "dangerous zones" would be cheaper than multiple fines (though naturally sticking to the speed limit is preferable).
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Aveyron motorists cleared

The 14 Aveyron motorists convicted in Rodez of warning about the presence of police radars by using Facebook have finally had their convictions quashed by the Court of Appeal. Originally their permits were suspended for three months, a decision overturned on appeal. But prosecutors took that decision to a higher court, where the appeal was upheld.
The appeal court found that warning about police checks by mobile phone or Facebook was not against the Code de la Route, as is the case with GPS devices which warn of the presence of fixed radars (though generally not overtly).
Nothing was said about flashing headlights.
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"Innocent" at any cost?

A motorist was found by police asleep on the hard shoulder of the A61, well over the alcohol limit. This was 2.30am but 5 hours later he was arrested and taken into custody. His lawyer pointed out to the court that this delay meant that the offence could not be brought to court and the motorist was released without charge.
The police should have been aware of this lack of procedure, but probably think that drivers are unlikely to contest their actions. Sadly this driver is a recidivist, with three previous drink driving convictions. He has obviously discovered that you can get away with murder (not literally) with a good lawyer.
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Two way radars

Speed cameras which point in both directions entered into service this week around the Toulouse area. Haute Garonne is the only department in Midi Pyrenees to have these cameras this year and there are only seven. There are none in Toulouse itself, but on the main non-dual carriageways leading into the city.
Deaths on the roads are considerably up on last year, with August figures alone up by 9%.
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Not the way to get your points back

French motorists generally start with 12 points which can be lost progressively. The sub editor this week received a letter from the authorities re-instating a point lost last year for a speeding offence on the A62 (now up to 10 points again). For more serious offences motorists can take a "stage de recuperation" and that is what a motor cyclist from Castres chose to do. The road from Castres to Albi is well-known (including to the sub editor)  for cameras and patrols and the motard on his way to the "stage" was flashed at 202 kph in a 90kph section. His bike was impounded and he missed the stage.
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Anti-radar alerts condemned

15 motorists who posted details of speed cameras, including mobile patrols, on a Facebook page were yesterday condemned to one month's suspension of permit. The court in Rodez had found the 15 members of a local group guilty of an infraction of the law regarding warning about speed cameras. Many readers will have GPS devices in their cars which warn of "dangerous areas" - which generally means the presence of a camera. These are legal, unless they say "speed camera ahead". But it seems that to publish specific details of cameras on a Facebook page is illegal.
Lawyers for the defendants claimed that the decision underlines the hypocrisy of a case where it is legal for GPS devices, or maps or newspapers etc to publish the details but illegal for private citizens.
One defendant pointed out that the purpose of speed cameras is to make drivers slow down in dangerous zones, not simply to trap motorists and that anything which improved safety should be welcomed, not condemned. The local group numbers 13000 and 600000 motorists in France contribute to such Facebook pages.
Generally in France a suspension of a permit does not simply expire at the end of the period, it may involve retaking the driving test. And it may lead to increases in insurance premiuns.
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Dacia top of the class

The low-cost brand owned by Renault is the best selling new car choice for French private buyers. More than 60000 Sanderos and Dusters have already left the showrooms this year. Starting from scratch in eastern Europe the cars have been on sale in France since 2004 and have made spectacular inroads into the market; now 1 new car in ten bought by a private motorist is a Dacia.
The strategy has been to keep prices down but offer few options, spend little on marketing and offer no discounts - the latter a reason why the fleet buyers still shun the brand. There was a time we laughed at Lada, scoffed at Skoda but they were popular, now maybe the Dacia Duster will join the ranks of low-cost legends.
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Mind how you drive in Aveyron

Worried about the number of fatal injuries on the roads of the Aveyron (34 killed in 2013, the worst year since 2000) the local police called in the "motoflics", policemen on motorcycles, from the Bordeaux brigade. In one week they issued 331 tickets for various offences, from speeding to not wearing seat belts. Using the telephone at the wheel is common, and 4 positive alcohol tests were taken. The offences were not confined to cars, with HGV and motor bikes also found to be breaking the law. With 11 deaths in the first 4 months of 2014, the department is well on the way to keeping up its grisly record. Interestingly no fatal injuries were recorded during the week the motards were visible on the roads. Police warn that Aveyronnais need to change their behaviour or the roads will remain a dangerous place to be.
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Malc says destroying the radar at Maleville shows the contempt some motorists there have for road safety.

Road deaths down in 2013

Figures to be released soon will show a reduction of about 11% in 2013 over the 3650 deaths in the previous year - this is a historic low.
In 2001 Jacques Chirac said that the 8000+ deaths that year was a cause of national shame and set about reducing the toll. Automatic speed cameras have reduced average speed limits from over 90kph to under 80kph, but the EU has set a target of under 2000 deaths by 2020. Unless new measures are introduced this will not be achieved. One solution proposed is to limit all 90kph roads to 80kph (50mph), which it is thought would save around 450 lives per year and to remove or put crash barriers around all vertical obstacles alongside the single carriageway roads (which is where 2/3rds of the fatalities occur).
Val says: I hope this will not mean cutting down even more plane trees - perhaps this is where the crash barriers will go.
Actually Malc did that post for me and when I said "I am not sure about the plane tree comment - do I put plane trees before life?"  Malc said "but they are one of the things that make France, France, along with the food and gun toting peasants!"  (gun toting peasants, harks back to an earlier post)
Why not give your opinion? although barriers round the trees must solve the dilemma.
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New style driving licence comes in today throughout EU

A credit card style licence with your photograph, points will be readable in the countries they are accrued but presumably able to be viewed throughout the EU system eventually.
France cannot roll this out till Sept 2013 and if you want to change your licence from English to French for the new style or just change from the old style French one you will have to wait till  2014. This driving licence will then be renewable every 15 years.
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