French good news / bad news

Just had a look at that. Three points instead of two for using a hand-
held phone while driving. Eight points for being pissed instead of six
(how many points for a ban, in France?). And - you missed this one -
bigger licence plates for bikes so they show up on cameras better. I
wonder when front plates will make a return?

Any rider who hasn't ridden a bike for more than five years must take
a refresher course. And it says reflective jackets will be compulsory,
for trikes as well as bikes.

1500 euros fine for more than 50km/h over the limit. Plus points, if
you're a Froggie, obv. Get nicked a second time for the same offence
and it's 3750 euros.

I can't understand the rationale behind removing the warning signs for
radar traps. I mean, you see a sign and you slow down, right? Removing
the warning sign suggests: "we actually want you to speed so we can
nick you", which isn't the right message, IMHO and is completely the
opposite of the UK approach where the authorities were ordered to make
the cameras more conspicuous.

There again, I see that French road death rate is getting much worse,
which is interesting.

 

It does seem odd that they'd legislate people to wear separate jackets
rather than defining a minimum area of hi-viz and getting the kit
manufacturers to incorporate it.

 

They've just taken a step closer to the shitty situation in the UK...

--
Veggie Dave
http://www.iq18films.co.uk

"To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneous as to claim
that Jesus was not born of a virgin." Cardinal Bellarmine

 

*ding*

that's what I did when offered an information leaflet and "voluntary"
breath test.

 

I watched a documentary about BASE jumpers recently. The best way
they found to sneaking into buildings and aerials was to wear a load
of hi viz and nobody ever questioned them.

 

Was this after being stopped for doing something naughty, or just
institutional harassment?

 

I bought one for £1.50 off ebay. A proper kick in the wallet.

 

The latter. They were stopping everyone on the A40 entering Abergavenny,
handing out a leaflet about summer drinking. Then you were shown the device
they use and offered a "free" go.

It was 4pm so I was sure I was clear. Nothing wrong with the bike AFAIK but
the clincher was the very, very, black visor.

 

There was something going on by a roundabout on the edge of Didcot
yesterday. I was tonking along the A417 and suddenly a driver coming the
other way in a car with flashing headlights started making big-time slow
down hand signals. I did, and there were a bunch of dibbles randomly
stopping people coming onto the roundabout.

On which note, Oxfordshire council seem to have moved on from their
obsessive installation of 50 limits. Huge swathes of the 417 are now a
40 limit, despite being well out of town. I can only assume they're
taking the piss. I certainly was.

 

I reckon they'll have everything down to 20 limits before they figure out
about diminishing returns.

 

Veggie Dave wibbled forthrightly:

Oh, I hadn't even gone into that one.

 

TOG@Toil wibbled forthrightly:

12 points to 0 in France. I forgot abut the licence plates. Apparently
the front licence plate has been forgotten about. For the moment.

The cameras in France are not in areas which I'd consider dangerous
(IME), they're grey and not visible. Removing the panels is just
another way to make sure the government gets revenue.

 

Jim wibbled forthrightly:

I'm sure that somewhere in the legal books of France this is already
the case. Helmets in France need to have reflective strips on the
front, back and sides. Most proper bike jackets have (very) small
reflective strips on them already.

 

Considering how easy it is to knock up a smartphone app to share
information about camera sites, I don't know how effective this will be.

 

Jim wibbled forthrightly:

Did you read what Veggie posted? Try the first sentence. That includes
phone apps. How they're controlled remains to be seen however.

 

That's exactly my point - it's easy enough to prevent sales of physical
devices, much more difficult to stop people installing software that can
be hosted outside France anyway.

 

Quite. SCDB is the one I use, and covers cal european countries,
including those like Switzerland where it's illegal and hence you
can't get the auto download from the GPS supplier.

 

I was soundly scammed on an early trip to France, on the bovvercraft.
Traffic all went wrong upstream of the Dartford Crossing, so it had been
(literally) pedal to the metal (in the then wife's cocar, a 1.6
Cavalier) all the way to Dover (full-on, tyre-screaming four-wheel
drifts around the corners, opposite lock, using the whole width, that
sort of thing) and we pulled up on the ramp just as the previously last
car had boarded.

Uniformed chappie, with shiny-peaked cap and bristly moustache stonked
over, radiating self-importance, officious disapproval and prickliness
in equal amounts, and demanded all relevant documents. It took a couple
of minutes, as the then-wife was in tears, having lost her brekkies a
couple of times down the A20 and Big Nick the Backseat Counterweight had
rubber arms, due to the desperate hanging on through the corners. (It
all sounds a bit Ogden, this).

All docs in order, we were about to roll on when he beckoned me out:
"You 'aven't got no GB sticker, meladdo". <blank look> "You gotta have
one, see, and headlamp deflectorators, too" <blank look II> "It's
EuroLaw, laddie, not my rules". <raised eyebrow> "It's the Rools, son,
The ROOLS - and you ain't gettin' on that 'ovvercraft until you're
legal, right?"

There was a convenient AA Portakabin, oddly enough, just there, beside
the ramp - so in I went and flapped about a bit. "This gennelman wants
the Euro Touring Pack, Gladys" came a stentorian bellow from the doorway
- and there it was, just the oh so shiny peak and the moustache,
bristling around the doorjamb. Gladys popped around the counter and
selected a large shiny package (only thinly coated in dust on the
reverse) from a handy hook, bobbed towards the doorway, scampered back
around and rang it up on the till. "Forty pounds please, Sir" quoth the
angel of my salvation.

Forty pounds? Forty fucking pounds? The crossing was only costing 25,
so it had better be good. Really fucking good. "Sorry Sir, it's The
Rools, see, you 'ave to be legal, or Mister Bristle won't let you cross,
see". <two raised eyebrows> "That's all we got left, see, but it's got
everything you need, Sir".

Forty fucking quid lighter, I staggered out of the Kabin, back onto the
ramp, to be confronted by Mister Fucking Bristle. "Now then laddie,
let's get you legal - and best be quick about it, 'cos you're holding up
all then good folks wot 'ave already boarded and that 'ovvercraft
oughter been on its way two minutes agin".

Under the beady eyes of Mr Bristle and to the amusement of the next load
of would-be travellers who'd started to arrive, I was meticulously
instructed in the use of the Euro Touring Pack. Bearing in mind we were
only popping across Le Manche for purposes of buying cheap booze and
quality cheese, it all seemed a bit excessive. Mister FB had already
checked the tickets and confirmed we were returning later that day, so
there was absolutely no need for headlamp "deflectorators" as he put it.

He didn't approve of the new-fangled trapezoidal headlamps, either.
"You allus knew where to stick 'em on the proper headlamps, you know,
when they was round, you knew where you was". I honestly thought he was
about to sell me a round headlight conversion kit - for forty fucking
pounds, any minute.

I went to stick the GB sticker on the edge of the hatch, where the boot
lid would be on a "proper car" - but no - it had to be "As close to the
number plate as you can get, laddie" so it went /on/ the bloody plate,
top left corner, almost touching the first letter. I didn't GAF where
the sticky bit went on the headlight, as I was dripping blood from
ripping the thing open and dripping sweat from the sun, the panic, and
the tension of fighting the urge to plant Mr FB right between his beady
little eyes and then pull his cap down over his shoulders and roll him
off the quay.

If he'd noticed I'd transposed the headlight stickers, that's exactly
what would have happened, too.

As I was sticking the second roughly-ripped headlight sticker on, I
heard the boot open: trotting round, there's Mr FB lifting the boot
carpet. "Just stashing your warning triangle, son", he said, "It's all
part of the Luxury Touring Pack, see, and you gotta have one and it had
best be in the best place, which is on top the spare wheel, for when you
getta puncture, see?"

Taking a deep breath and manfully resisting the desperate need to slam
his head in the boot, I waited until he'd done the stashage, rolled the
carpet back and tucked it in - then he stepped back and let me close it
.... and fucking saluted me! "Off you go now, Sir, like a good
gentleman" the patronising oik. Rolling (finally) towards the
hovercraft, I looked across at him as the sun caught his collar flashes
- strangely, rather than the SS runes I was expecting to see, a
different pair of similar letters caught the light ... AA.

Puzzled, I rolled on - until stopped by a tall chap in a black uniform.
This one had a white top to his cap, and he /did/ have "SS" on his
lapels: "SeaSpeed".

"Tickets and passports, please, Sir".

"I just went through this with your man, there <points> <looks> <empty
space on the ramp revealed>

"Ah, you met old Tom, did you, Sir? You'll be AA members, then - he
does like to make sure his members do it right".


Did he really, the officious old git? Did he fucking really? Nice
little scam he had going there and that's 15 awkward minutes of my life
I'll never see again. I joined the RAC, anyway.

 

Fucking hell !

This is a worse police state than any of the countries we visited in
North/Central/South America !

There we were regularly stopped, but only because they wanted a chat with
us, and occasionally a picture.

At no time did any of them attempt to force us to breath into a bag or
wear a HiVis, even in Guatemala and Colombia where it is law to wear a
HiVis with your reg on.

This country is shit.

And wet

And windy

And cold.

 

My mate Big Nick was pulled, wibbled at, argued with and eventually
nicked by the sergeant that the first copper called out. His offence
was "Using a mobile device in contravention of blahblah ... "

Thing is, he wasn't. Well, he had been, in that he'd sent a text
message when stationary but he was spotted putting the phone back in his
top pocket. When challenged, he pulled out the works phone, which is
visually identical to his personal phone, the one he'd been using. He
was pulled at 18:45 and the works phone had been turned off since 17:45
so he thought he was safe.

But no! The offence stands, apparently, whether the phone is in use, or
even switched off: if you have the thing in your hand it's 3 points and
60 quid and that's that.

That's mind-boggling.

That legislation - painting/fixing panels in bright yellow to the
cameras was temporary and has now lapsed. It only applied to 'revenue-
generating' cameras in any case (although that was the vast majority)
but any new cameras may be stealthed.

See what happens after the crackdown.