British holidaymakers getting speeding tickets as French police claim it will be harder to fines

British holidaymakers are being bombarded with speeding tickets amid claims French police fear it will be harder to rake in fines after Brexit

  • French police have been accused for holidaymakers with speeding tickets
  • They made 104,031 requests to the DVLA for details of UK drivers back in March
  • Drivers face speeding fines between £61 (68 euros) and £3,360 (3,750 euros) 
  • Notice’s from French authorities can be sent up to a year after the offence

French police were last night accused of cashing in on British holidaymakers ahead of Brexit by bombarding them with speeding tickets.

Gendarmes made 104,031 requests to the DVLA for details of drivers as the UK was due to leave the EU in March.

This is around two and a half times the 42,824 made the previous month, a Freedom of Information request shows. Just three requests were made in January.

The AA suggested French officials were rushing to hammer drivers amid concerns it will become more difficult to obtain details of vehicle owners from the DVLA afterwards. 

French police have been accused of bombarding British holidaymakers with speeding tickets. Gendarmes made 104,031 requests to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency for details of drivers as the UK was due to leave the EU in March (stock image)

With millions of holidaymakers about to head to France, it warned motorists to stick to the speed limit.

Edmund King, president of the AA which lodged the FOI request, said: ‘It seems that the gendarmes, worried that Brexit was about to kill off their lucrative haul of fines, have upped the ante.

‘Expect another rush for camera cash in October.’

Drivers face fines of between £61 (68 euros) and £3,360 (3,750 euros) for the most serious speeding offences if they receive a ‘violation notice’ from French authorities. These notices can be sent up to a year after the offence. 

Mr King added: ‘Driving in France can be a minefield for the unwary, with speed limits cut on some major roads last summer and lower speed limits in bad weather.

‘UK drivers need to wise up to different road laws in the countries they visit this summer.

With millions of holidaymakers about to head to France, it warned motorists to stick to the speed limit (stock image)

With millions of holidaymakers about to head to France, it warned motorists to stick to the speed limit (stock image)

The AA suggested French officials were rushing to hammer drivers amid concerns it will become more difficult to obtain details of vehicle owners from the DVLA afterwards

The AA suggested French officials were rushing to hammer drivers amid concerns it will become more difficult to obtain details of vehicle owners from the DVLA afterwards

‘We now know for sure that some European police authorities will chase them all the way home to get their fines – and beat the next Brexit deadline. The safest and surest way to avoid a fine is to stick to the limits.’ 

The current scheduled departure date for Britain to leave the EU has been moved back to October 31.

The UK signed up to the EU Cross-Border Enforcement Directive in 2017, which forces the DVLA to share driving offenders’ details with member states.

Previously the UK had opted out of this directive, arguing the cost of the IT systems and processing penalties would be higher than the extra income it would receive from fines of foreign drivers committing offences on British soil.

Drivers face fines of between £61 (68 euros) and £3,360 (3,750 euros) for the most serious speeding offences if they receive a ¿violation notice¿ from French authorities. These notices can be sent up to a year after the offence (stock image)

Drivers face fines of between £61 (68 euros) and £3,360 (3,750 euros) for the most serious speeding offences if they receive a ‘violation notice’ from French authorities. These notices can be sent up to a year after the offence (stock image)

The new technology can process fines on an industrial scale, pulling in millions for EU authorities. 

Mr King conceded the new system ‘may be better than the old way, when gendarmes frog-marched speeding Brits down to the cash machine to pay their penalty deposits’. 

But he said at least then, offending drivers knew when and why they had been fined, instead of demands for money six months after the offence.

The normal speed limit on French motorways is just over 80mph (130km per hour).

Last summer the French government cut speed limits on single carriageways with no central barrier from 56mph to 50mph.

It has since reversed this policy after public anger.

 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk