bobbi2

We were driving home after a day out yesterday and a speed camera flashed whilst we were going through a tunnel. I was doing 6 or 7kph over the limit max but there were other cars around me going faster too so not sure it was me, but had a discussion on this. I have been told by our prefecture that we did not need to change our licence to a French one until it expires in 2021. I enquired about this after I was routinely stopped in the next village a couple of years ago to check documents etc. The Gendarms said I would need to change it but comfirmed and printed of the letter of the the prefecture saying I didn't. They did aound flakey about it and seems to be a different rule depending who you speak to.
Anyway, I see most people get a fine as it is minimal but with a UK licence and living in France what experience has anyone had? As I said I am not sure I was flashed but happened to be in the same group of traffic as others ao got us talking about fines etc. Seems they do not follow up the 1 point of a UK licence. Seems a very flakey area. Of course being a UK licence means the DVLA do not update new addresses so my licence is still under out old UK address??? Such a messy subject and seems to be no definate answers.

EuroTrash

I believe the rule is that you can keep your UK licence until expires UNLESS in the meantime you commit a traffic offence, in which case France can require you to change your licence for a French one. In fact, for one or two points they don't usually bother. But if they do, then you are legally obliged to comply because that's what the law says.
Happened to me once, flashed at 55 in a 50 zone, a fine and theoretically one point off. I paid the fine and heard no more about it.
It doesn't matter that you no longer live at the address on your licence.

bobbi2

When you said you heard no more about it, surely the avis asks for your fine to be paid AND you licence to be submitted for the points? How does it work then if you just pay the fine?
I have been in this position before where there has been a flash around me and it wasn't me. I am also not sure how many cameras flash in France but have no film?

EuroTrash

The fine comes through the post with instructions on how to pay. I paid online but you can also pay by post or at certain shops or offices. You don't physically send your licence in - the points are deducted virtually, if you have a French licence, and you can go online to see how many points you have left at any given time. If you don't have a French licence, word is that they do keep a record somewhere, but I don't know if this is true or not. I guess that if when they go to deal with the points they discover you don't have a French licence, they either record the deduction in this special "somewhere" if it exists, or decide not to bother, or decide they will bother, and in that case they will contact you and tell you to get one.

petitefrancaise

They will send you the fine through the post. Pay it online and only change your DL if it specifically tells you too. You may well be ok for this time but be aware that you may be told to change it at some point in the future. Like most things in France to do with bureaucracy, only provide what you are asked for!

petitefrancaise

At one point inToulouse, they must have done a check on foreign licenses with points because quite a few people I knew got demands to change to french licenses immediately. Those that ignored the letters to do it got visits from the gendarmes!

bobbi2

Ok ta for that. As I said our prefecture said it wasn't necessary to change until expirey so went against the gendarms. Hopefully it wasn't flashing at me anyway! Not sure how long these fines take to arrive normally?

EuroTrash

Very quick usually.

The law is perfectly clear, in fact. If you simply asked the prefecture whether or not you needed to change your licence, and didn't mention the possibility of having a contravention, then what they said was entirely correct.

https://www.service-public.fr/partic...osdroits/F1758
"La demande d'échange n'est pas obligatoire sauf en cas d'infraction entraînant une mesure de restriction, de suspension, d'annulation du permis ou une perte de points."

bobbi2

Yes this was without a fine. Strange though how they go against what the prefecture says??? Like life isn't complicated enough here,

cardi

So you have been bothering the prefecture with the theoretical possibility that you may have been speeding and the prefecture explained the rules to you but a gendarme at the side of the road said differently and this confuses you.
Is this a real query?

bobbi2

Well if you read my first posting properly and in full I was stopped routinely for a check in a village near home a few years back and they raised my licence and that I should maybe look at changing it. Please read the forums properly!!!!!

Chti Anglais

Same happened to myself, then later (by choice) changed to French P De C. Whether the infringement is stored somewhere or not, no transfer of points occurred.
Points are never shown on the P de C as ET stated they are held elsewhere electronically and can be checked by the gendarmes by radio or telephone

bobbi2

Thanks for that. Want to try and avoid renewing it if I don't have to. Another 5 years is a long time and need to make decisions on what we do by then on our future here so could be a lot of hastle changing it back if I did have to get a french one.

InVinoVeritas

The reason you may have received different advice, Bobbi2, is probably because there are 3 different possibilities:-

1. You have a UK licence and are both the owner and driver of a French registered vehicle or
2. You have a UK licence and are the driver but not the owner of a French registered vehicle or
3. You have a UK licence and are the driver of a UK registered vehicle

In the first case, because you have an address in France, you could be asked to change your licence for a French licence, although this does not happen very often and it would likely only be for a serious offence. The reason you could be asked is quite simply because the system has no way (currently) of registering points which are not attached to a French licence.

In the second case, the owner of the car would be asked to identify the driver and you would receive the avis de contravention at the address provided for you. It would be up to you if you pay the fine as there is no reciprocal enforcement of traffic fines between the UK and France. You would not, in any case, receive any points or be asked to change your licence.

In the third case, unless you are stopped you would likely hear no more about it, unless the UK were to provide the French, on request, with the registered address for the vehicle, in which case it would follow the process for the second case.

It is to get around the obvious problems associated with this that the French intend to introduce a virtual driving licence later this year. In this way, penalty points can be attached to the offender for future use. The fine detail has yet to be decided but the outline is that there would be an initial 12 points which would be reduced as a result of traffic offences committed in France, if all the points were lost the driver would be banned from driving in France for one year and thereafter the 12 points would be restored. How points are recovered in the interim, would presumably follow the current (rather exploitive) system operated in France.

Jon-Bxl

Just 1 clarification please as highlighted above, case 1.
As long as we are in the EU pre-Brexit, I think the police can only request you to take a French Licence I don't think you are required to transfer to one. Is that right, please?

Jon