weldted Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 Hi I sure this has been asked before, Speed limits for Motorhomes Under 3500 kgs and 3850kgs. I have a new sat nav for my van but it shows 60 kph on minor roads set at under 3500 kgs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 A motorhome with a Maximum Authorised Mass (MAM) not exceeding 3500kg is classed in France as an ordinary car and the (dry weather) speed limits that apply to it are: Built-Up Areas: 50 kmh Outside Built-Up Areas: 90 kmh Dual Carriageways: 110 kmh Autoroutes: 130 kmh If the motorhome exceeds 3500kg (and it is not towing a trailer) the (dry weather) speed limits are: Built-Up Areas: 50 kmh Outside Built-Up Areas: 80 kmh Dual Carriageways: 100 kmh Autoroutes: 110 kmh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 Up to 3500kg Car limits apply. Over 3500kg. Single carriageway 80kph Dual Carriage ways & Autoroutes If it is a 100 kph Limit it is 90KPH If it is a 120 kph Limit it is 100KPH If it is a 130kph Limit it is 110KPH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 I will just mention that speed cameras are breeding at a rapid rate in France! It is best to stick to the limits or risk a hefty fine. H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve928 Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 hallii - 2017-11-01 7:11 PM I will just mention that speed cameras are breeding at a rapid rate in France! It is best to stick to the limits or risk a hefty fine. H Was flashed yesterday at 97kph (satnav speed) on a 110kph dual carriageway. It was a downhill stretch where the lorries might be tempted to let it roll (silent sixth we used to call it) to gain momentum for the next climb so I assume that the modern-looking speed camera had some detection for frontal area and presumed I was an HGV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weldted Posted November 1, 2017 Author Share Posted November 1, 2017 Many thanks for your replies, it is my new sat nav that was puzzling me? It has the ability to enter your type of vehicle when I put in Motorhome below 3400 kgs it shows a speed limit on country roads at 60 kph it only shows 90 kph if I enter a car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matrix Meanderer Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 Steve928 - 2017-11-01 7:31 PM hallii - 2017-11-01 7:11 PM I will just mention that speed cameras are breeding at a rapid rate in France! It is best to stick to the limits or risk a hefty fine. H Was flashed yesterday at 97kph (satnav speed) on a 110kph dual carriageway. It was a downhill stretch where the lorries might be tempted to let it roll (silent sixth we used to call it) to gain momentum for the next climb so I assume that the modern-looking speed camera had some detection for frontal area and presumed I was an HGV. I had that experience as well when under the speed limit on two occasions back in June. No tickets have arrived so far. Must also assume that the "sophisticated" new cameras identify low profile motorhomes (wrongly) as HGVs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 weldted - 2017-11-01 7:42 PM Many thanks for your replies, it is my new sat nav that was puzzling me? It has the ability to enter your type of vehicle when I put in Motorhome below 3400 kgs it shows a speed limit on country roads at 60 kph it only shows 90 kph if I enter a car. Something strange there, as France has no generalised 60km/h speed limit. This Wikipedia entry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limits_in_France says “...Posted speed limits, to conform to the French Highway Code, must be in odd multiples of ten (e.g., 10, 30, 50, etc.), though you can still see 40, 60 and 80 sometimes...” but I don’t recall ever seeing 60. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve928 Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 Got flashed again today - same new style tall upright speed camera. This time it was at 84kph in a 110 limit. Also saw the second motorhome in a convoy of 2 get flashed coming the other way while visibly going at a very sedate pace in amongst the lorries. These new speed cameras do seem to detecting something about a motorhome that makes them think it should be going much slower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 This link contains a video-clip detailing the capabilities of the latest tall French ‘radars’ http://www.radars-auto.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ham Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 This adds a new dimension to speeding in France https://www.connexionfrance.com/French-news/Speeding-tickets-to-soar-as-radar-cars-to-be-privatised the detection of speeding being handed over to a private company Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 Terrible - the next thing will be that the French will privatise their railways ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazdog6007 Posted November 3, 2017 Share Posted November 3, 2017 be very careful through villages on national roads in France .some are down to 30km, Flashed in may after a bend in the road which would catch all,unless you were a local. no follow up though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 3, 2017 Share Posted November 3, 2017 This link may be of interest https://www.theaa.com/european-breakdown-cover/driving-in-europe/driving-offence-abroad I don’t know how regularly French authorities pursue via the DVLA those UK motorists driving UK-registered vehicles who are caught speeding by ‘fixed’ cameras (rather than being caught by French police and fined on the spot). The only instance I’ve come across is mentioned in the 25 July 2017 posting on this link https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=10&t=1674344&i=20 when a hire-car was involved. If a UK motorist who has returned to the UK igores the French demand for payment, I don’t know what the French authorities can do about this. If the motorist returns to France there is (as far as I’m aware) currently no French ‘black list’ holding information about UK drivers who have been sent a payment-demand but not paid the fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plwsm2000 Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 I had my photo taken today by one of the "smart" speed cameras on the A63 motorway northbound towards Bordeaux. This has a 130kph posted limit but as I am over 3.5T, I thought the limit was 110kph (as others were according to the previous replies in this thread). I have since read from other sources it is 90kph on motorways. I was doing 95kph as recorded on the dashcam gps. The road conditions were good and hardly any traffic about so I know it was me. I guess these cameras set the limits according to your height as there is no one they can read your number plate and look up the details in real time (particularly if the dvla are in the loop !). Has anyone actually received a speeding ticket since the rules changed last year? If so, how long did it take to drop through your letterbox? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted June 23, 2018 Share Posted June 23, 2018 plwsm2000 - 2018-06-22 7:32 PM I had my photo taken today by one of the "smart" speed cameras on the A63 motorway northbound towards Bordeaux. This has a 130kph posted limit but as I am over 3.5T, I thought the limit was 110kph (as others were according to the previous replies in this thread). I have since read from other sources it is 90kph on motorways... The speed limits in France for MOTORHOMES (in good weather conditions and not towing a trailer) with a maximum overall weight in excess of 3500kg are Autoroutes - 110kmh Dual-carriageways - 100kmh Other non-urban roads - 80kmh A French-registered ‘over 3.5t’ motorhome (“un camping car poids lourd”) should display those speeds on its rear and kits are marketed in France to do so (example here that also repeats the speed-limit rules I’ve mentioned above) https://www.camping-car-plus.com/equipement-exterieur/exterieur-cabine-cellule/disques-limitation-de-vitesse/kit-3-disques-limitation-vitesse-3742.html There are other vehicle-weight-related regulations that apply to other types of vehicle and result in lower speed limits, and the autoroute limit for a GOODS VEHICLE with a maximum overall weight >3.5t and not exceeding 12t is 90kmh. But the French kmh limits for a >3.5t CAMPING-CAR are 110/100/80. The French ’smart’ radar equipments https://www.franceroutes.fr/actualites/radar-tres-intelligent-bientot-activite-france/ are said to be able to discriminate between cars and heavy goods vehicle using the vehicle’s dimensions, but this method could be expected to result in large motorhomes being ‘flashed’ on autoroutes if they are exceeding 90kmh. This situation has been discussed on French motorhome forums (example here) https://www.routard.com/forum_message/3368961/radars_et_camping_car.htm and it’s been suggested that either a human is involved in a ‘vetting’ process to distinguish between large motorhomes and goods vehicles, or that (for French-registered motorhomes at least) there’s an automated system that can do this and prevent a prosecution-notice being sent out to the motorhome’s owner. This link http://www.nopenaltypoints.co.uk/common-driving-offences-abroad.html says "France is seen as the number one country for pursuing foreign motorists who commit motoring offences in their country”, but I don’t know how valid that statement is. The "MORE ADVICE: Driving in France laws and guidelines” section of the following link may be of interest https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/motoring-news/what-is-the-eu-cross-border-enforcement-directive/ In the following link https://motoroffence.co.uk/what-do-i-do-if-i-get-a-speeding-ticket-abroad-on-holiday/ "ROB APPLETON on April 1, 2017” posts that - after a weekend break in France - he subsequently received in the UK two separate in-French speeding-fine notices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plwsm2000 Posted June 23, 2018 Share Posted June 23, 2018 Thanks Derek. I can relax a bit now. There are a few unofficial sites around that say the limit is 90kph that adds to the confusion. Your link [url=]https://www.franceroutes.fr/actualites/radar-tres-intelligent-bientot-activite-france/[/url] suggests that these cameras can also detect driving too close to the vehicle in front, not wearing a seatbelt, and if you are using a mobile phone!!! . Not that I am guilty of any of these, but if they really clever enough to tell if you are wearing a seatbelt or not, then you would assume they should be able to tell the difference between a truck and a motorhome (although I guess they can listen for the annoying beeping sound if you don't have your seatbelt on :-) ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted June 23, 2018 Share Posted June 23, 2018 I would have thought that some of the radar’s capabilities are theoretical rather than realistic. Presumably an ability to detect that a driver was holding a phone, or a seat-belt was not being worn, would be based on computer analysis of an image acquired through the windscreen of a vehicle approaching the radar. If that’s correct, how would the device detect a black seat-belt worn by someone wearing black clothing, and what if the person holding the phone is the passenger in the cab of a RHD vehicle? It may be that vehicle differentiation using the vehicle’s ‘dimensions’ would just be based on height, as there’s already a 3-metres datum used for toll charges. So perhaps any vehicle over or close to 3m high would be treated as a >3.5t goods vehicle. Or perhaps the French radars include a flashing-at-random feature to keep drivers on their toes. A warning "pour encourager les autres”... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monique.hubrechtsgm Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 In any case the papers arrive at the licence adress. Up to you to pay or not, But face the outlet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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