France - Speed camera detection

[Juvecu]

I normally keep off the motorways and ride the back roads and if I have ever passed one of these I didn't know it. I still try and remember the signs each time I go over because you just need that one screw up to ruin your trip. The 2CV might come off worse though

[hookie]

Very wise. Trouble is there are no signs that you are approaching one of these. There may be a sign showing a cross road or junction ahead but there is nothing to tell you if you or someone coming from your right has priority. If the road on your right has no stop or give way sign and white line then they have priority. Problem is you can't really see this until you're almost on top of it. So when you see a juction ahead just be extra vigilant. In reality these are quite rare and you are very unlikely to find them on anything except the real back roads between villages. I'd been riding here for several years and done thousands of mles before I really became aware of them. So don't let all this put you off...

[Juvecu]

It doesn't, I love riding in France Biggest scare I had was looking the wrong damn way at a T-junction and thinking it was clear, almost got T-boned myself Never happened since, I can now swap sides easily, that scare cemented everything important about swapping on which side of the road to ride into me forever.

[Sea-Strom]

In the 80's I went the wrong way up a dual carriageway in Normandy in my XR2!   I think the words that accompanied the head-on approacing truck driver's  shaking fist were something like 'You ****ing English **nt!!' (in French)  The incident did nothing for Anglo-French relations but cemented in my mind the importance of driving on the right, once having crossed the Channel!

[Juvecu]

That reminds me of a bloke I knew, he was a drug addict that's gone completely clean and was helping others do the same (not me, honest! ) He once told a story of him driving home 25km on a motorway in reverse because he couldn't get the car into 1st or 2nd gear!   Obviously high out of his mind at the time. No idea if that's true, but I never had reason to doubt anything he's said before

[Abercol]

We have a plonker here at work who was stopped by the police close to the College. He was driving on the wrong side of the road. The police were kind of interested in why he was driving on the right and he said he was off to France in a couple of weeks and he wanted to practice!

[Fatbelly]

I have never had a problem driving abroad and being on the right. BUT a couple of times just after coming home I have found my self momentarily getting it wrong in this country. Probably something to do with being more relaxed in my own street.

[TravellingStrom]

This is an interesting thread re the removal of on road speed camera location signs.

My take on it is this, IF everyone knows that there is no forewarning of where the speed cameras are, and the GPS companies have removed that data from the devices, it will most likely make ALL drivers keep to the speed limit. Rather than slowing down where the cameras are then speeding  up afterwards which is normally the case now, in my country anyway

That said, it will piss me off no end as my Vstrom likes 110kmh at all times

Cheers for now
Travellingstrom
http://www.travellingstrom.com
http://www.richardstravelshop.com

[hookie]

Just to completely confuse everbody- including me- I was persuaded to take the better half shopping here in Central France. We went into one of the larger and more popular supemarkets and whilst her indoors filled the trolley with life's essentials I wandered about the motoring section and low and behold found a GPS based radar detector for motorcycles! The GPS tells the computer where you are and the map database warns you as you approach fixed speed traps. There was a big sticker on the box that proclaimed that it was completely legal to use. It was priced at 42 Euros- about £35. What do you make of this?

[Kaboo]

Update, as published in our local rag, in time for the summer touring season.

Briefly, explained thus: Drivers that use specific radar detectors, such as the Coyote, maybe liable to being fined. GPS devices that are not radar detectors maybe in breach of the law if they give specific warnings of radar. It seems that if the warning does not mention Radar, but something more general, such as danger areas that include other dangers, then apparently it is OK. So if your unit has the word Radar as a warning then by updating the software to say Danger Area then it may get round the problem.

Legal disclaimer: this does not constitute advice etc etc