Avis De Contravention (speeding ticket) dispute/appeal?

uday-you were speeding. Would you feel better if they wrote you for 96? And, you are complaining that you can't appeal it online? Pay the ticket. But that's just my opinion.
I will say that I've seen accounts for quite a while that there are speed detectors on major French highways and that they are not forgiving. No slack in a few areas when it comes to auto safety-was there a safety vest in your rental?

Dave,

Of course I am enquiring about not being able to appeal online. Specially, when they did not issue a ticket to someone else who was driving at the same speed as me. That makes it very suspect. If you read my post, I was not complaining but asking if there was an online process.

I know I was above the speed limit. I knew it when I was driving in France at that time. For your clarification, it does not matter if it was 96 or 91. Since you were talking about safety, the key is to generally drive at speeds "everyone else on the road is driving". In many situations driving within the speed limit actually decreases safety, because it increases speed differentials between adjacent vehicles (specially when everyone else on the road is driving 10km/h more than the limit) and leads to erratic lane changes as faster drivers try to get around the blockage. For that reason, in good weather and daylight, driving something like 10 km/h above the speed limit is often the most common speed, and that makes it advisable to drive at a similar speed (specially when everyone else is going at that general speed). So please don't lecture me on "Safety" issues of driving 4mph above speed limit. Hey, but what do I know? I went to school for 2 years only to get masters in Traffic Engineering.

So Dave, thanks for the suggestion of "Pay the ticket!".

You misunderstand the ticket.. you are granted a grace of 1 km over the limit.. this is to account for minor technical issues.. you were likely snapped by photo radar.. You were actually going 5 km over the limit.. and your friends only had to be slightly slower then you .. just ever so slowly.. as they passed the camera to avoid the fine.

ah! I see. Thanks for clarification, Pat. So that 5 km/h triggered the radar. Dang!

So speeding 5 KPH (3 MPH) over the posted speed limit of 90 KPH (56 MPH) results in a ticket? Sheesh.

There has to be a line somewhere.

Is killing your mom wrong, but blowing away a butthead okay?

I know someone who got six speeding tickets in one day driving across France. I hope this is the only one you get!

Ed cracks me up!
:-)

uday, it was not my intent to lecture you, please forgive me if it came across that way. I was merely attempting to point up the fact that in many ways, the French, and most countries in Western Europe, are far more conservative than we in the U.S. on issues of auto safety in general, and that this fact is well known. Whether it's the requirement of a reflective triangle and a safety vest in the vehicle passenger compartment for side-of-road safety, or the very conservative BAC maximum permitted, or speed cameras, it is what they do. While I am sympathetic to the 'drive the speed everyone else is driving' argument, the fact remains that available reaction time is key to accident avoidance, and governments will do what they can to encourage slower speeds.

As for the ticket, for me personally it is not intuitive to say 'I broke the law but I'm going to fight it', and when I couple this with the hassle involved, it is simply not worth it. In looking at the link you have provided, it appears that if one wishes to appeal they must make a deposit along with their registered letter. Just my opinion, but that's just not time well spent, in particular when I know darn well I was speeding.

Thanks for sharing the experience, it is all useful discussion.

I agree with Pat.

I believe that:
''vitesse retenue = vitesse diminuée pour marge d'erreur'' (reduced speed for margin of error or something like that)

If the cost is not very, very high, I would also just pay it. Make sure to appeal fast (if that is what you want and indeed possible) so to be sure not to have late fees.

Just FYI the USA has interesting laws too... I once got a ticket (my only ticket ever) for speeding in the USA (I am not from here) and since I was barely speeding...the ticket was for ''waste of natural resources'' (gaz)...Well, well...

Good luck dealing with the French ;)

Thank you all for your inputs. After reading bunch of other forums and blogs, I have decided to pay the fine and do away with it. The appeal process takes a long time and the process involved is not easy. I will just chalk it up to travel expenses. I will be more careful next time.