Mortes Angles - Driving in France

[Big Colin]

Hey folks

We'll soon be heading off for a getaway and will be driving through France. My Boxer is .5t but its an L4H3 model and is BIG. I'm aware of the requirements in France for the "Mortes Angles" (Blind spot sticker requirement) for vehicles >3.5t (including motor homes) but was wondering if anyone has attracted the wrong attention for NOT having them on a larger .5t vehicle which the authorities might assume is greater than 3.5t?

I'm happy to just go ahead and purchase them, after all my vehicle IS the same size as a van that's >3.5t and lets be honest, safety first for other road users and all, but then again, I don't want to attract the wrong attention for incorrectly using them, if there is such a thing.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

Link here for the requirement - https://www.fpluk.com/single-post/are-you-compliant-to-travel-to-france

 

[DT]

Mine remained in the door pocket.

 

[PaulW2]

If you did that, wouldn’t they - and automated cameras - assume that the lower speed limits and weight access restrictions apply to you?

I’m also not that certain that many road users read angle morts stickers and say “oh, in that case, I’d better not do that thing I wanted to do…”

 

[Lenny HB]

We are 4.5t & 7.5m, they are in the van somewhere must have been in or through France 8 or 10 times since they were required.

 

[Ditcha]

Mine are in the bin 4.6t and 7.5m not seen a French Moho with them yet.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[dpsuk999]

I’m 7.49t and they remain in the door pocket of the motorhome until such a time as I get stopped and reprimanded for not displaying them

 

[Lenny HB]

Mine are in the bin 4.6t and 7.5m not seen a French Moho with them yet.

Need new specs Dave, nearly all the big Frencies have them.

 

[Polar bear]

Just returned from France we have magnetic angle morts which we take off when returning to UK. Most of the French vans we saw that were over 3.5t had angle morts on.

 

[VXman]

If you did that, wouldn’t they - and automated cameras - assume that the lower speed limits and weight access restrictions apply to you?

I’m also not that certain that many road users read angle morts stickers and say “oh, in that case, I’d better not do that thing I wanted to do…”

Not really an issue. I mean, plenty of lorries on UK roads have the stickers but don't need to because they are only required in France. Commercial vehicles are unlikely to stick them on/remove them as required.

I'm the opposite way round in that we are 4250 but look 3500. I have the stickers but I must admit I am in France at the moment and haven't put them in

Automated cameras will not see the stickers, they can only access your weight from the DVLA database so unlikely to be an issue in Europe.

Toll booths measure size not weight so we escape there too.

 

[HKF]

Mine are in the bin 4.6t and 7.5m not seen a French Moho with them yet.

Almost all French MHs will be 3.5t because an extra test is required for a licence above that weight. Added to that, we've seen so many French MHs that are clearly overweight (too many people, far too much equipment) that I think they just don't care about not having the correct licence.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Speve]

I think as long as you don’t go through to many big urbanised areas you will not be stopped we never have since they became law I do have them I made up some with suction pads.

 

[dawsey]

It’s very easy to overestimate the level of interest that continental police have in folks in motorhomes. In all my 30yrs of experience of driving on the continent (30,000km in the last 12 months alone) - we are, to all intents and purposes invisible to law enforcement. There are so many more interesting things for them. They know that retirees, families or semi-retirees in campers are among the very least likely to be any sort of lawbreaker and they treat us accordingly. The last time I was stopped in France was 1995, it was the dreaded douannes, we were all 22-25, had hair down to our arses and were in something near 20yr old and very rusty.

Use the confusing death angle stickers or don’t use them, you won’t attract attention. The same is true with the silly ‘UK’ stickers. The international ISO code for UK remains GB or GBR outside of our little island. We still have GB/EU plates and that’s the way it will remain until they fall off.

Where police will be interested is where there is an accident where people are hurt and they are looking for some culpability for prosecution. Hence its handy to be in compliance with any law that is pertinent in event of accident. If you are commercial/registered as over 3500kg, it is of course advisable to have the stickers. If you are not, legally they are not required.

With a camper the thing to watch is your mass. Most campers appear to run overweight and could find themselves in serious trouble in event of an frontal accident where someone was hurt or killed and it could be proven that being overweight substantively affected stopping distance.

We run right on the limit, all the time, sometimes a bit over and mindful of that I always leave huge gaps between myself and other road users, use all my nouce from years of riding bikes when I see folks at junctions (through a camper is happily much easier to see than a bike..) and use as much engine braking as possible on long downhills.

If you do get stopped one of the first things any plod will inspect are your tyres (from mates who were traffic) - and for good reason. It’s in your interest to always be running newish <5yr tyres of the right load rating, correct pressure, lots of remaining tread and no sidewalk cracks. I have experienced a front tyre blow out in a fully loaded camper on a motorway at 65mph. It was easy to see why many folk end up not walking away from that. Just this year I had another tyre failure, this time a rear, nothing wrong with the tyre at all from visual inspection - but it was an old tyre. It had just started to break down internally.

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

Think I can get away with looking like 3.5t so will keep mine in the glovebox until the French bloke pulls his gun out and tells me different

 

[Thornebt]

Need new specs Dave, nearly all the big Frencies have them.

I would say most large French vans seem to have them - and other nationalities.

 

[Thornebt]

Just returned from France we have magnetic angle morts which we take off when returning to UK. Most of the French vans we saw that were over 3.5t had angle morts on.

We also have the magnetic ones. Not fallen off yet!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Speve]

We also have the magnetic ones. Not fallen off yet!

Be aware magnetic signs can damage your paintwork as grit gets in behind them

 

[repairer]

I have travelled to France twice this year with them fit, I found that very very few vans had them fit, some that were very obviously over the 3.5t

I have now removed them.

My van was recently up plated from 3.5t to 4.25t, still same van (I know not in the eyes of the law)

Stickers caused too many issues with certain routes.

 

[PaulW2]

I have travelled to France twice this year with them fit, I found that very very few vans had them fit, some that were very obviously over the 3.5t

I have now removed them.

My van was recently up plated from 3.5t to 4.25t, still same van (I know not in the eyes of the law)

Stickers caused too many issues with certain routes.

One does hear a lot about ‘if you’re overweight they’ll fine you/if you have an accident your insurance will be invalidated’ and so on.

In that vein I wonder what would happen if there is an incident where a vehicle which isn’t legally permitted on a particular route, or which travels at an illegal speed for its weight, is involved in a contretemps. What would the law and insurers then do?

This seems to me to be perhaps more likely than the overweight scenario.

 

[David BW]

We have magnetic ones that have remained in the door pocket for both our trips to France this year. (3.5T PVC - up-plated to 4.25T )

 

[veloap]

They are only required in urban areas - whatever that means.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Lizbiebrowne]

Think I can get away with looking like 3.5t so will keep mine in the glovebox until the French bloke pulls his gun out and tells me different

See thread #12. No one is interested in a >3.5 ton van without stickers until you have an accident. If it involves, heaven forbid, a fatality, you will have law enforcement and lawyers all over you.

 

[Jo662]

Ours are in the glovebox as well. The only time I have put them on is going through Lyon .

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

you will have law enforcement and lawyers all over you.

They won’t take me alive

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

Ours are in the glovebox as well. The only time I have put them on is going through Lyon .

We are straight off the tunnel and up the 16 to Belgium, you don’t get many cyclists on the A16 especially dumb ones who cannot see a big white brick driving along

 

[Verteuil Man]

A lot has beeb said over many threads regarding these stickers. They are a legal requirement under French law. It does not matter whether they make your pride an joy ugly or whether the French Police pull you for not having them, or you have seen loads of vehicles without them. None of that negates the fact that if your motorhome or caravan/tow vehicle weight is over 3500kg, you need to display the stickers.

Yes there is a fine if you get caught, but the biggest problem you will have is killing a cyclists (and we all know they are suicide jockeys) you will be paying for that for the rest of your life as your vehicle is not legally fit to be on the French roads so your insurance may not be valid. Getting out 'quick" to put the stickers on whilst a cyclist is laying under your wheels. Really?

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Geoff51]

We are 4.5t & 7.5m, they are in the van somewhere must have been in or through France 8 or 10 times since they were required.

You really are a lucky bugger Lenny. Problem may arise if someone (say on a bike) has an accident and hits your van. No stickers your fault!??

 

[wp1234]

Why take the risk of not having the stickers on if your legally obliged to, if you clip a cyclist your gonna pay big time , bit silly in my opinion.

 

[PHCAS]

Had the same thoughts in August. I bought a pack of signs, took them to France but never fitted them. Suggest you do the same.

 

[Verteuil Man]

Had the same thoughts in August. I bought a pack of signs, took them to France but never fitted them. Suggest you do the same.

That really is a pointless exercise.

 

[Ditcha]

Why take the risk of not having the stickers on if your legally obliged to, if you clip a cyclist your gonna pay big time , bit silly in my opinion.

Some people just like living on the edge