I've just recieved a few French Speeding Tickets.

htrj

Thats more or less what id read elsewhere but its nice to have some meat to add to the bones so to speak.

I think I will just file these appropriately. Thanks for your advice.

shaun_from_Africa

thenudeone wrote: »

There has to be an identified driver who accepts the fixed penalty as an alternative to court, and agrees to the addition of points to their licence....

I would have thought that as it was a hire car and unless the OP had additional drivers added to the contract, identifying the driver wouldn't pose too much of a problem.

If it was a single speeding offence then I would be tempted to ignore it, but as it was 4 in a very short space of time, the French authorities may not be so eager to forget about it, and they may stay on record for a fair time.

What you decide to do will probably depend on whether you intend going back to France in the near future.

cardinalbiggles

You knowingly broke the law by your own admission. Pay up and move on.

Oh and in future, you're not above the law in other countries.

rach13

I had a parking fine and Hertz just paid them and then charged my card plus a hefty admin fee. It was one of those illegal parking fine companies but Hertz didn't seem to notice/care and just paid up - wrote them a nasty letter but they wouldn't budge - wouldn't have minded quite so much if in fact I had parked illegally!

benjus

On the subject of the Hertz charge (not the police fine):


Last time I hired a car I cancelled my credit card immediately after the hire firm had released the block they had placed on the card, just in case of any surprises in future. Some people on this site have commented that this doesn't stop them taking money - but given that (as far as I'm aware) care hire companies do not generally set up Continuous Payment Authority agreements, and that the original amount blocked on the card had been released, I don't really see how that could happen in this case. I believe that if they wanted to take more money they would have to put it through as a new transaction, which would fail as the card has been cancelled (it would be useful to know the technicalities of this, but it's what I believe to be the case).

That's not saying I wouldn't pay them if they invoiced me, but I don't want them to be able to just help themselves to my money.

StrongWork

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

I'd not be silly and speed all the way through France like a tool.

What's the need to put lives at risk just to make a flight?

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Tiddlywinks

StrongWork wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

You wouldn't be laughing if you'd had experience of a speeding related accident though, would you?

Limey

You may need to revisit the contract with Hertz and check the terms and conditions.

I know this is a different country but I got a ticket from Australia on the hire car I had and the fine was passed on to me via the company (plus admin). I considered not paying but read in the T&Cs that unpaid fines will be paid by the hire company and charges to your credit card, the Australian Police will also increase the fine by about 3 fold.

Cancelling the card won't work as you signed the contract before it was cancelled and the bank will still honour the contract.

I'd do some more research before you dismiss this out of hand.

benjus

Limey wrote: »

Cancelling the card won't work as you signed the contract before it was cancelled and the bank will still honour the contract.

How does that work, then? Hertz puts through a transaction with the cancelled card details, transaction is refused, Hertz contacts card issuer and shows them the contract?


Or does Hertz set up a Continuous Payment Authority? A CPA is the only form of transaction I'm aware of that can be successful even after the card is cancelled, but if you have better information I'm happy to be corrected...

Aretnap

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

You wouldn't be laughing if you'd had experience of a speeding related accident though, would you?

Thing is, no accident has ever been caused because someone broke a speed limit. A great many have been caused because someone was driving faster than was safe for the circumstances. The speed which is safe for the circumstances may be higher, lower or about the same as the speed limit, depending on the road and the conditions. My memory of French autoroutes is that they're often very empty and very straight. So the OP might have driven recklessly, or he might not have.

Which isn't to say speed limits shouldn't exist or that people should break them - they're a useful if imperfect way of dealing with the problem of people diving too fast - but "OMG! You broke a speed limit! You're risking everybody's lives!" isn't a particularly helpful or sensible attitute to take.

(Or from another point of view, the speed limit on French motorways is 81mph. We all know that the maximum safe speed on a motorway is 70mph. So the OP would have been recklessly endangering people's lives even if he'd stuck to the limit )