Speed cameras abroad!

[911hillclimber]

just a heads up.
we are making our way back to the UK having been so far 2460km through France, Germany and Austria.
fabulous roads, however......

Every town is protected from speeding cars by 30 km zones and entering the villages and towns that speed is enforced by a huge camera system, Matt black and well disguised.

Most of the locals slow to 30 then speed up when past the camera.
If you are obedient and do 30 right through you will not be popular even though you are respecting the village.
It is very hard to find when the 30 Zone finishes and you are left guessing.
Usually a 50 km limit follows which might then change to anything up to 130/120 etc.
Lots of times the road speed of 70kph steps abruptly to 30.

we have found it very hard to not think you have violated the speeds, so be really careful if travelling to Europe.

I will be amazed if I don't get a speeding ticket soon.

BEWARE!

 

[BrianJ]

We're recently back from 2700 miles through France, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France. I agree with your comments. Took us a while to realise that in some countries the 30kph speed limit signs are on the right but the signs for the end of those limits are only on the left, on the back of the limit signs going the other way. Also, in the 30kph zones in France (and maybe others) the "priority from the right" seems to automatically apply without any signs so people just come out from schools, minor roads etc without even looking. Overall a great trip but lots of concentration required, though didn't see a pothole all the way, even on many hours of minor roads.

 

[Greenman986S]

in France the speed limit starts at the town / village name sign despite the speed limit sign being another 100 yards down the road...

dont ask how I found out

 

[BrianJ]

The rectangular red bordered village name is normally the start/finishing of the 50kph limit unless otherwise indicated. The subsequent 30kph zones are not always very clearly shown, we found.

 

[AlistairF]

What doesn’t help is that in France they have changed limits from 90kph to 80kph….but there have been protests (this is France) and some are back to 90. They also have huge grey speed cameras here and there which I mainly spotted after the event…the other classic was an average speed camera system that covered about 30km of road north of Beziers…I forgot for a bit.

Unfortunately this means you are better of saving your enthusiasm for the mountainous bits which make the rest of it almost worth sticking ish to the limits.

like others I found it’s easy to go past the town/ village signs…waiting for the speed limit sign.

It’s almost worth going for the smooth roads and lack of potholes though.

 

[911hillclimber]

Smooth roads? So very true, forgotten what those were until in Europe.

no pot holes, none.

nice driving manners, as in everywhere.

killer scenery

killer scenary

space to see and breath

drive from Dover to West Midlands Saturday....oh no!

Sunday to clean the car of all the dirt and junk and brake dust etc.

A dirty Porsche is the best one!

Average fuel consumption so far is 34 mpg (2.9 Boxster 987.2)

Order a new set of coil tops on Monday.(mini adventure, thank you RAC, brilliant service).

Austria is the best (Lake Wolfgang), Lake Constance equals it.

 

[MrDemon]

brexit = no tickets now just speed.

 

[911hillclimber]

Seems if you get a demand from an EU country it will be a fine but no points.

currently around Reims, speed limits change every 100 meters literally in surrounding villages.

several today got angry at me doing 30 until the zone stopped....

Must be locals!

 

[Paul_Sue_Leggett]

I am not sure which is more worrying, the targeting of drivers for low speeds or the fact that having read this thread the last couple of days Google delivered me this news link on the subject of town and city speed limits.

Anyway, perhaps an interesting short read.

https://www.euronews.com/...n-cities-is-it-working

 

[911hillclimber]

Yes, every village and town we went to large and small had a 30 Km/h limit bar just one which was 50 km/h.

Obviously this is 18mph and 30mph if in the UK, and the 20 zones have been around for some time here.

None of this is new, Welsh towns are covered now, and many other areas.

The EU have cameras there to ticket you.

They are there to enforce the law which is fair enough, but I found it quite hard to focus on the driving bit and spot the cameras and sometimes if the 30 is there but where exactly do they start and end.

I found it a big distraction and certainly felt 'hunted' buy the numbers of them.

They do not stand out, but some places did have advance warnings, digital 'your speed is..' but again not always obvious.

The cameras are huge, about 2 meters high, 400 in diameter and black/grey, oddly hard to see!

We found it very easy to speed over the limit as there is almost no traffic at all in these towns, barely a group of people and fewer bikes.

The purpose of my thread here is to highlight the fact that these 30 zones are everywhere, and a Brit could instinctively drive through at 50 km/rh 30 mph, as we would in the UK and get photographed/ fined many times in a day.

When I did 30 through the zones the locals were impatient once the camera was passed.

 

[Greenman986S]

Yes, every village and town we went to large and small had a 30 Km/h limit bar just one which was 50 km/h.

Obviously this is 18mph and 30mph if in the UK, and the 20 zones have been around for some time here.

None of this is new, Welsh towns are covered now, and many other areas.

The EU have cameras there to ticket you.

They are there to enforce the law which is fair enough, but I found it quite hard to focus on the driving bit and spot the cameras and sometimes if the 30 is there but where exactly do they start and end.

I found it a big distraction and certainly felt 'hunted' buy the numbers of them.

They do not stand out, but some places did have advance warnings, digital 'your speed is..' but again not always obvious.

The cameras are huge, about 2 meters high, 400 in diameter and black/grey, oddly hard to see!

We found it very easy to speed over the limit as there is almost no traffic at all in these towns, barely a group of people and fewer bikes.

The purpose of my thread here is to highlight the fact that these 30 zones are everywhere, and a Brit could instinctively drive through at 50 km/rh 30 mph, as we would in the UK and get photographed/ fined many times in a day.

As mentioned above, the name of a town or village at its entry is an implicit limitation to 50 km/h; the crossed name at the exit is the corresponding end of limit. This matches the way 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic defined a built-up area (in English, or agglomération in French). However, additional 50 km/h speed limit signs, or other speed limit sign, might be added to make it more explicit.

there really is no excuse for not knowing the rules of the road

 

[AlistairF]

The speed limit on departmental roads in Puy-de-Dôme in central France returns to 90km/h today (August 1), meaning almost half of all departments have now reinstated the higher limit four years after the government imposed the controversial 80km/h limit.

In 2018, the government voted to lower the national limit on departmental roads from 90km/h to 80km/h in a bid to improve safety. The change applied to secondary roads with the exemption of dual carriageways. Motorways were not concerned.

The move was unpopular among authorities and driving associations in several departments.

Today (August 1) 42 departments across the country have reverted to 90km/h, meaning almost half of French departments have revised the limits.

The government gave authority to local departments to do this in 2020 and it is now up to the departmental council to make the decision.

This article was dated August 22…

 

[Nigel Trundle]

Just to add to MrDemon’s point, drivers of UK registered cars won’t receive fines from EU countries post Brexit. I can confirm this from personal experience. I am in no way advocating speeding BTW, but it means we can relax and concentrate on driving the road safely and considerately without being distracted by keeping an eye out for speed cameras when in Europe!

PS you can still be stopped by law enforcement, and receive an on-the-spot fine. On my last trip of approx 2400 miles in Europe I passed 2 manned speed guns.

 

[911hillclimber]

Interesting.

so far, I have nothing in the post for speeding on my recent trip.

Maybe I was not going too fast in those 30 kph zone, I was/am convinced I must have fallen foul of at least one or two.

wife thinks the same and she is never wrong...

 

[MrDemon]

You don't get tickets now, we have been though this ;-)