Points: Letters of the week, June 29
The issues that got you talking this week
Special relationship
Proof of French police targeting British drivers is my experience a few years ago (“It’s your money or your licence”, last week). Approaching Calais on the A26, driving my French-registered Honda CR-V, I was sandwiched by two British-registered cars, a BMW and a Range Rover. I spotted the gendarmes under the bridge, as pictured in your article, too late to brake from the 140kph (87mph) at which all three of us were travelling. At the toll station the BMW and the Range Rover were pulled over. I went through unhindered.
Graham Marchand, Cheltenham
Cash vache
That French police are targeting British drivers should come as no surprise. With their economy in tatters, what could be easier than to adopt underhand tactics to raise money?
Keith Dodds, Auchterarder, Perthshire
Legal paradise
Malheureusement, the French police are enforcing the law. Who wants to live in such a country? Well, I do actually.
Andrew Maynard, Tonbridge, Kent
Fine mess
I’m no advocate of speeding but the on-the-spot fines in France seem draconian: 1kph over the limit is ludicrous. At least a bit of leeway is given in the UK.
Anthony Prescott, Scarisbrick, Lancashire
Danger zone
You report that the police “just want to stop drivers who are travelling at dangerous speeds”. I wonder. You also report that motorists driving at 230kph (140mph) and weaving through traffic were not stopped for a further 50km (30 miles), to prevent them from warning others. Surely allowing dangerous driving to continue for so long defeats the object.
Dugald Barr, London
Toll tax
Ian Feachnie complains that drivers in the southeast pay an unfair toll to use the crossing at Dartford when there is no such requirement on the Thelwall Viaduct on the M6 (Points, last week). I use the M6 toll road to get to work, and, at more than £10 a day, the charge seems unfair, especially when the M25 is being constantly upgraded with more and more lanes. Tolls are unfair. This is not a north-south thing.
Steve Haynes, Tutbury, Staffordshire
Keep moving
So David Rundle (Points, June 15) is a driver who stops on a slip road. Why? It’s a slip road, not a junction.
Graham Eldridge, Market Harborough, Leicestershire
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