French Speeding Tickets
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- ETM0
It's kind of odd though, I thought generally the tickets go to the rental car agency and then they just charge your CC. Usually states that in the contract.
- whatthefunk0
um, apparently it's rather easy to get out of tickets over there - http://www.survivefrance.com/pro…
"And it's all because of that loophole in the law which has allowed them to register the car they use in the name of their son.
He is, according to the carte grise or the car registration papers, the legal owner of the car - a Fiat Punto - and as such considered by law to be the driver - unless proven otherwise.
So why not charge him, you might be asking.
Well he's only four years old and obviously is too young to be held accountable."
- omg0
Just send them back a ticket for throwing trash upon your car, and call it even.... French parking tickets are for french people anyhow. You're not a citizen.
- akrok0
i would pay them, if i was you.
- ukit20
I kind of doubt they would check people entering the country for unpaid parking tickets, but I guess anything is possible.
- akrok0
well, don't you get like a warrant for your arrest if you don't pay. that's the problem. not the tickets.
- CuriousGeorge0
I assume they were the result of speed cameras as most of our driving was on the freeways from town to town. The weird thing is that there isn't a photo accompanied with the ticket. Any time I've gotten a ticket from a camera in the past it always comes with a photo of the car and license plate.
- you could argue that it wasn't you who drove the car. it was parked at that time. lol.akrok
- they have to show proof.akrok
- no they don't, if they can't prove you're the actual driver, then they can't remove any points on your driving licence, but they can ask money to the owner/renter in this case.dyspl
- but they can ask money to the owner (renter in this case), as he is legally responsible for anything regarding the car.dyspl
- mikotondria30
Yeh, I'd pay them. If you love France, then you don't want to jeapordize any re-entry. You don't know what despotic system they might implement in the mean-time. You don't want to land to an outstanding court summons that you never attended, defaulted to an arrest charge, executable upon entry. It might sound outlandish to us, but the rules on what you have to carry around in the trunk of your car there seem odd to us. You just don't what you don't know.
- i_was0
post the papers
- WhiteFace0
I live in France and have accumulated a glove compartment full of french parking tickets. The general consensus is that English plates can get away with not paying, apparently they can't trace back to you if you don't pay them, apparently.
- this is speeding tickets, sent to his non-french addresssine
- Could be risky as they have his address.WhiteFace
- yep. if you don't pay you'll probably get court summons next. since you plan on returning this could be a problem.sine
- problem.sine
- but i would also ask for proof (as stated above) and challenge the tickets/have them revoked.sine
- How can they not trace back? They mailed him in America.ETM
- sothere0
I think that when you visit a country it's respectful to obey there laws. Be a good ambassador for your country and maybe suck it up and pay it.
- cannonball19780
Think about it this way: at least they were courteous enough to mail them to you.
- true, imagine finding out about while detained in the airport with no cell accesswhatthefunk
- aanderton0
Was the fine you received in French? If so you can probably get around it.
Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights guarantees everyone who has been charged with a criminal offence the following minimum rights: to be informed promptly in a language he/she understands about the accusation.
That's what the internet tells me. Just claim you didn't understand any of it, figured it was junk mail and threw it away. To be honest though, if you want to go back I'd just bite the bullet and pay up.
- There isn't a lick of english on the fines. That's part of the challenge!CuriousGeorge
- detritus0
Pay it with monopoly money.
- CuriousGeorge0
I did some snooping on Trip Advisor and all signs point to paying the ticket. If I don't they'll go back to the retal car company who will just take it off of my credit card and add on an extortionate processing fee.
What I don't understand is how the French get away with speeding. The entire time we drove with the flow of traffic, never once were we excessively speeding compared to other cars on the road. I guess they just know the spots to slow down?
- CuriousGeorge0
- Formidable.mikotondria3
- would be awesome if it was somehow a scam going into a kid's bank accountwhatthefunk
- detritus0
It's a EuroTax on Americans.
I say fuck 'em.
- spl33nidoru0
Just pay and get it over with, if you don't 2 months from now you'll get another letter and this 150 euros is going to turn into 450 with accumulated penalties and fees.
Then you'll wonder again what to do about it only you'll kind of wish you had taken care of it when it was just 150. Then maybe you won't pay again, then the next letter will be a court summon. Most likely you won't come to France just to go to court, but you'll think about it big time on your next trip.150 for 3 speeding tickets is not much. Make it go away and embrace peace of mind!
- You could also dispute the tickets if there's no proof and no cop delivered them himself. But take care of it.spl33nidoru
- benfal990
PAY.
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