Alain has radically changed his attitude when he crosses the French border and he has learned to ease off.
For a long time, when this fifty-year-old hunter came to hunt wild boar in Sologne, he happened to drive at 170 or 180 km / h on the French highways, without worrying about the many flashes that marked his route.
But since he received the minutes at home for speeding, this Dutchman is "more careful".
As it did with the Netherlands and with many other countries of the European Union, France has just signed a “cross-border exchange agreement relating to traffic offenses with Denmark”.
Since Wednesday, any Danish national flashed on our roads will receive the fine at his home.
And vice versa: the French committing traffic offenses detected by radar in Denmark could be prosecuted by the authorities of that country.
"Even if the fines for speeding are five times cheaper than with us, now, if I get flashed in France, I receive the PV ten days later in my mailbox", explains Alain, the Dutchman .
A lower number of offenses than before
France now practices these cross-border exchanges of information with 19 European Union countries in total (in addition to Denmark, Belgium, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Italy , Luxembourg, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ireland, Sweden and Portugal) and with the United Kingdom.
At the same time, it also exchanges similar information with Switzerland, on the basis of a specific bilateral agreement.
Of the 12.5 million traffic tickets sent to speeding drivers in 2019, 2.5 million were for drivers with foreign license plates.
“Since the deployment of speed cameras in France, approximately 21% of the violations noted (50% in the summer period) concern vehicles registered abroad, while they only represent 5% to 6% of the traffic”, underlines the Road safety.
"The number of offenses committed by foreign motorists on our roads is still very high, but much lower than before the implementation of the European directive governing these exchanges, because there were then 4 million, details the interministerial delegate to Marie Gautier-Melleray Road Safety.
Last year alone, 25% fewer offenses were committed by foreigners in France compared to 2018. ”
The most unruly Britons
Do you have the impression that you do not meet many Danish drivers on our roads?
Well, think again.
In one year (from October 2019 to September 2020), 4,538 offenses were committed on our roads by vehicles registered in this country.
For the interministerial delegate, "the generalization of cross-border exchanges in Europe is a step forward, because it ensures equal treatment between French and foreign drivers".
“Thanks to this European cooperation,” she explains, “we want to put an end to the impunity of motorists who commit traffic offenses in a country other than that of their residence.
"
Newsletter - Most of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le Parisien
I'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to enable you to receive our news and commercial offers.
Learn more
No translation problem since the contravention notices are written in the language of the offender's country.
The Ministry of the Interior has also created a call center with call center agents answering in five languages and a website (www.antai.gouv.fr) accessible in six languages.
In the ranking of the most unruly foreign drivers in 2019, the British (444,378 offenses), the Belgians (295,899 PV drawn up), the Spaniards (262,012 fines), the Germans (249,291) and the Dutch ( 206 102).