French radar beeping us?!

Is the sat nav on? It might be beeping to warn you that you're speeding.

Speed up if you want a ticket. Slow down if you don't.

This isn't an answer except in a very general, generic way. We are the "proud" owners of a new vehicle with latest electronics. It beeps all the time. Half the time we have no idea as to cause. However, if we are not dead center in our travel lane, it will beep if we approach the edge of the lane without the lane changing signal being on. The GPS function will sometimes beep if we exceed the speed limit on the screen. But not always but haven't figured that one out, yet. I think that can be set somewhere but who knows. Think dealerships should hold classes on the electronics. At 76 my learning curve doesn't have the patience it once did.

I know that. The problem is compound by having bought two new vehicles last year --- from two different manufacturers. So there is no transfer from one system to the other.

So your shower doors are talking to you, eh? Hmmm.

Last year we bought TWO new bleeping cars. The dealer informed us they hold "orientation" classes for new owners every month. We laughed and scoffed, but...well, we think our cars are trying to tell us things all the time, too. Sometimes we can figure out what the bleep they mean, but sometimes it feels more like this...

Stay safe out there.

WHAT do your shower doors do -- upload pictures to the internet????? I know how to open and close a shower door. Hasn't change in 70 years.

Sometimes you folks make my day! A bit of wry humor with my morning coffee is a splendid way to start my morning. Thank you! :-)

Some GPS units in cars monitor the vehicle's speed, compare it to the database it has stored for that particular stretch of road on which the vehicle is traveling, and will provide some kind of aural or visual alert if the speed the vehicle is traveling exceeds the applicable limit.

So that may be it.

I doubt it is a radar detector, as I suspect it is a factory-installed system and such systems are illegal in France (and if found by your local police or Gendarmes could lead to a 1500€ fine). So -- your observation that it appears to correlate with radar warning signs may be a coincidence or an error in memory on your part.

It took me awhile to learn to notice radar installations in France and it may for you as well. I remember a business trip from Lyon to Bretagne with a co-worker shortly after I transferred to France. We flew into Nantes' airport, rented a car, and my co-worker drove. He was picking radar detectors out left and right and saw far more than I did. Years later, I'm much more aware of the various shapes and types of French radar detectors.

Thanks, Bob. It does make sense that it's the GPS beeping us, using its speed limit database.

The GPS manual is even worse than the car manual, though, and equally doesn't mention such alarms.

We are the "proud" owners of a new vehicle with latest electronics. It beeps all the time. Half the time we have no idea as to cause.

I wouldn't say my car has all the latest electronics, and it's 3 years old, but I have the same issue. In 3 years I haven't figured some of them out.

Helped me with my shower doors!

Travelman, what do your shower doors do?

marcia

If it is not the gps with a speed alert, it could be the lane keep assist reacting to some condition in the road it mistakes for lane line.
My car will beep if there is a long thin tar patch near the edge of the lane, that mimics a lane line

We leased a Citroen car a couple months ago and had the same annoying beeping sound. After a day we figured out that if you changed lanes or crossed the lane markings without blinkers.
So go insane, or stay between the lines, or be an excellent driver and use blinkers. Not remembering if we fugured out how to turn off the alert or what?

My GPS beeps warnings of red-light cameras (by known location), even if they are not currently being used in my state.

I use CoPilot on my phone for navigation. It will beep and say there is a speed trap coming up. It also beeps three quick loud beeps if I'm 15 km over the speed limit - when the speed drops from 90 to 50 entering city limits for example. There is also a red warning on the GPS screen. If I don't slow down, it will beep again after a short time. It's helpful because the speed/town limit isn't marked 100 percent of the time (maybe 95 percent are marked).

It's helpful because the speed/town limit isn't marked 100 percent of the time (maybe 95 percent are marked)

Actually, Brad, they're all marked. It may be that you're unfamiliar with the markings and didn't recognize them.

Remember when you drive into a town and you see that uniform signage announcing the name of the town? It's a white rectangular sign with black letters spelling out the town's name and a red rectangle with rounded corners around the letters. Here's an example.

Look familiar?

It's a sign indicating a town name, sure enough, but it's also a speed limit sign. It means the speed limit from that point on, until you leave town (the same sign but with a black diagonal line through it) is 50 km/hr unless otherwise marked. Now some towns will do drivers a service by adding a "50" sign with or just after the town name sign (some may post 70 or 30, depending on the town), but it's not required as long as the speed limit is 50 because speed limits in France are standardized. Here (in French) is an updated grid of standard speeds and conditions that's current as of 1 July 2018. That grid is not fully complete, because it leaves out a category of road -- the "Autre routes" category near the bottom where there's a physical separation between two single lane lines of traffic. What's shown are the limits if there's no physical separation between the opposing lanes of traffic. If there is a physical separation (concrete blocks, guard rails, etc., the speed is 90 under dry conditions, 80 if there's precipitation, and 50 if visibility (due to fog, heavy snow, or heavy rain) is less than 50 m.

It's why speed limit signs in France are somewhat rare compared, for example, to the U.S. With standardized speed limits frequent speed signs aren't necessary. Someone familiar with le Code de la Route, the French driving regulations, should know the speed limit on pretty much any particular road based on road characteristics and weather conditions, so posting signs would be unnecessary for most French drivers. That does nothing for visitors, of course, but as with many things in France, you're just supposed to know.

Having said that, most French drivers speed anyway, and one can be sure to be tailgated if one chooses to actually obey the speed limits.

So, The other Bob (and anybody else in the know),

what is your take on the 130/110, and 90/80 with precipitation? Many a time I've been on autoroutes under clouds with a light drizzle and wipers on automatic with an occasional swipe across and been passed by lots of people if I slow down.

Or is it a deluge? Or wipers on constant?

Anyway, where is the line drawn? It is the only French driving law that is and always has been vague to me.

That's when you need the shower door on your car -- when it's showering.

My little Garmin beeps when the speed limit is about to drop -- not based on my speed but on what it knows about the road. Just an audible reinforcement to the sign I should be seeing.

Nigel,

I'm not an attorney, least of all a French attorney, but the clearest explanation I've seen is contained in French regulations, specifically Article R413-17 of le code de la route (English translation below, the original French may be accessed by the link above):

II.-One's speed must be reduced:

1 ° When crossing or overtaking pedestrians, including those who have
exited their vehicle or bicyclists riding alone or in groups;

1 ° (amended) When crossing or overtaking any vehicle, immobilized or
traveling at low speed on a shoulder, an emergency lane or other pavement, equipped with the special lights mentioned in Articles R. 313-27 and R. 313-28 or whose driver makes use of his hazard warning
lights under the conditions provided for in the first paragraph of
Article R. 416-18;

2 ° When passing convoys at a standstill;

3 ° When crossing or passing public transport vehicles or
vehicles used for transporting children and subject to special
signage, while riders are either boarding or deboarding;

4 ° In all cases where the road does not appear to be completely
clear, or risks being slippery;

5 ° When visibility is insufficient (rainy weather and other precipitation, fog ...);

6 ° In curves;

7 ° In fast descents;

8 ° In sections of narrow or congested roads or roads lined with dwellings;

9 ° Approaching hill tops and intersections where visibility is not
assured;

10 ° When making use of special lights and in particular low beams;

11 ° When crossing the path of, or passing, animals.

No. 4 seems to suggest that in any case where the road is not completely free from precipitation (which could mean rain, ice, snow, or hail) or water or other substance from man's activities (say, water or foam on the roadway from firefighting or oil from a leak or spill), one must decrease speed or risk a fine and other measures, depending on circumstances.

No. 10 explains why high beams are mandatory in France outside towns (except when passing other drivers or where the road is lighted) but not allowed inside towns, because if you're not using high beams outside towns, you're supposed to be traveling at a reduced speed.

I hope that helps. I'd be curious if anyone else has a better reference. It's certainly vague.

I suspect, in practice, it's up to the police officer who has stopped you to attest to road conditions, so at some point it might be your word (and that of any passengers) against the officer's, if you choose to contest the fine.

My GPS beeps when I enter a school zone during school hours.