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Title: Beating the traffic ticket in France
Source:
The Local
URL Source: [None]
Published: May 18, 2012
Author: staff
Post Date: 2012-05-20 05:40:55 by Tatarewicz
Keywords: None
Views: 233
Comments: 7
A couple in the southern town of Cannes have been able to escape a string of parking fines by registering a car in the name of their four-year-old son. Local newspaper Nice Matin reported that a quirk in French law allows a minor to be named as the legal owner of a car. The law, dating back to 1984, was designed to allow 16 and 17 year old learner drivers to be able to have a car. Instead, the canny couple took advantage of the rules to put their car in the name of their son. All that's needed to do so is proof of address and an identity card. No driving licence is required. Since registering the car in his name a total of 70 different driving offences have been notched up. These include speeding, parking violations and failure to notify a change of address. As the four-year-old is the named person on the 'carte grise', the document which identify the owner of the car, he is also assumed to be the driver. A total of €23,000 ($29,000) in fines have been built up over four years. France also has a system of points which can be built up for flouting driving rules. In this case, as the child has no driving licence, it's not possible to punish him with points. The case was brought before a court in Antibes this week but no member of the family turned up. As a result, all the charges were dropped. "It's clearly absurd but that's how the law has been written," said the judge, reported Nice Matin. "Given the absence of the parents, the only thing I can do is drop the charges. It's not enough to assume that they have tried to evade the law. It has to be proved that they were the ones driving." Matthew Warren (news@thelocal.fr)
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 7.
#1. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
I love it. I wish that would work here.
i've heard people claim that registering a vehicle under the name of a trust works for them. in that case, such as parking or red light scam tickets, it would be difficult for the state to mail the ticket to the owner (person) since it is registered to an artificial entity.
Where I used to live parking tickets were on the plates. I got several a year, then every year changed my plates. I never paid a parking ticket for ten years. Even when I was pulled over the tickets never came up. Now if I had been pulled over with the ticketed plates on the car...differnet story. But I escaped.
esides, if they don't like the way you park, they can get off the sidewalk, right?
I actually parked like that once when I owned a taxi.
In France they actually routinely park on sidewalk. They also have a different view on pedestrians. Instead of giving them the right of way, they believe in natural selection and believe that if someone is motivated to live, they will watch out and stay in shape so they can live to dodge cars another day. That's what walking around Paris always seemed like to me. There are epically bad drivers there.
when we were there a few years ago the place was filled with those tiny smart cars. but, most folks took the train, it seemed. when we went arrived, we stopped by Notre Dame Cathedral. I wanted to see it in the daytime so we went back the next day and there was some sort of special Mass about to start. turns out it was the funeral of some very famous nun, the mother teresa of France (who's name escapes me). and Sarkozy and his wife and bunch of other bigwigs come right in and sit near us, two foreigners with backpacks. LOL! What are the chances of that? Seeing the president of france the first day youre in france? like one in 20 million? i thought that was so cool, anyway. Also curious, in retrospect, was their complete lack of paranoia about the security compared to the u.s. if such an event were to occur.
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#2. To: RickyJ (#1)
#3. To: Artisan (#2)
#4. To: Turtle (#3)
#5. To: Ferret (#4)
#6. To: Turtle (#5)
#7. To: Ferret (#6)
That's what walking around Paris always seemed like to me. There are epically bad drivers there.
Replies to Comment # 7.