Sent by Mike Pope, Le Bar sur Loup

Since January I’ve learnt of dozens of marginal driving offences that cause doubt as to the true motives of the police purge for better road safety.

I was detained for almost 40 minutes by the Gendarme National (Grasse) roadside check in Mouans Sartoux at midnight at the end of July, receiving an on the spot fine of €90 because the forward “fog lamps” were on. The officer, with an officious “road safety-conscious” comportment, revealed to me that these are an annoyance to other drivers, and positioning me in front of my car, he unsuccessfully demonstrated the nuisance they cause.

These lamps do not cause annoyance to oncoming traffic, they shine down onto the road and do not dazzle, unlike full-beam head lamps or the all too frequent misaligned head lights. If anything, they enhance safety on poorly lit roads and increase your arc of visibility significantly.

A new law states that they may only be used in fog, snow and heavy rain, and are not to be used in towns. Fair enough, I should have remembered to switch them off after leaving a poorly lit back road, but being seen is better than not and at least all my lights work.

So, as he laboured over writing out an illegible PV, it was particularly maddening to watch a succession of delinquents on scooters without helmets and exhaust silencers and clapped out cars going by without any lights on at all, way over the speed limit, while they dealt with me, the big criminal! Well, those kids would not have had any cash or credit. Strategically staged outside a bank with a functional ATM, the whole set up seemed a bit shifty and another good earner for the underfunded police forces, whose purge to improve road safety is seemingly not their primary goal. The fine didn’t hurt me, but the principle left me resentful. A warning for an infringement doesn’t make money, but it would have left me with more respect for the gendarmes, whose job we all know is not easy or pleasant.

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