Nataly 38 #1 November 12, 2012 I *cannot* believe it... The cops here are notoriously unpleasant... But present a foreign licence, and they are suddenly much nicer, because their options are either to: - fill out A LOT of paperwork to force you to get a French licence so you can get penalised and pay a fine - fill out SOME paperwork to issue you a fine, to be paid on-the-spot - give you a warning and send you on your way HOORAY!! Finally something administrative works in my favour!!!!!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zep 0 #2 November 12, 2012 Haha, the same here in Spain, I still use the old green toilet paper British license held together with tape. The police take one look and can't be bothered. Also the advantage of the old British license is that I don't have to renew it till I'm 65. Gone fishing Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ZigZagMarquis 9 #3 November 12, 2012 Quote I *cannot* believe it... The cops here are notoriously unpleasant... But present a foreign licence, and they are suddenly much nicer, because their options are either to: - fill out A LOT of paperwork to force you to get a French licence so you can get penalised and pay a fine - fill out SOME paperwork to issue you a fine, to be paid on-the-spot - give you a warning and send you on your way HOORAY!! Finally something administrative works in my favour!!!!!! N@, Were you doing wheelies on your motorcycle through the Arc de Triomphe... again!!?? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nataly 38 #4 November 12, 2012 Quote N@, Were you doing wheelies on your motorcycle through the Arc de Triomphe... again!!?? Who, me?? "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HighJB 0 #5 November 12, 2012 Having A + at the hotness test may help to have the 3rd option as well And if you're kind and polite you might get also this option ça passe ou ça frotte Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ryoder 1,590 #6 November 12, 2012 Quote Having A + at the hotness test may help to have the 3rd option as well And if you're kind and polite you might get also this option And if that doesn't work, she can always go for the old tried-and-true burst-into-tears mode."There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 16 #7 November 12, 2012 Quote And if that doesn't work, she can always go for the old tried-and-true burst-into-tears mode. I tried that once. It didn't work. . .I've talked my way out of about half my tickets. A little politeness and contrition go a long way. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ryoder 1,590 #8 November 12, 2012 Quote Quote And if that doesn't work, she can always go for the old tried-and-true burst-into-tears mode. I tried that once. It didn't work. . .I've talked my way out of about half my tickets. A little politeness and contrition go a long way. If I were you I'd tell the cop I was rushing to the airport to talk down a passenger flying a jumbo jet, because both pilot & co-pilot had the fish."There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adamUK 3 #9 November 12, 2012 Don't talk fluent french though. Speeka zee eenglish and the aforesaid gendarme will repeat himself but a little bit louder before eventually giving up muttering to himself. Looking blankly at him also helps. Sadly gone are the days when you could drive as fast as you like down the Péage and the Périphérique (sigh) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 16 #10 November 12, 2012 Quote If I were you I'd tell the cop I was rushing to the airport to talk down a passenger flying a jumbo jet, because both pilot & co-pilot had the fish. Rex Kramer: Striker, listen, and you listen close: flying a plane is no different than riding a bicycle, just a lot harder to put baseball cards in the spokes. I use that line every time I have to talk someone down. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nataly 38 #11 November 12, 2012 QuoteDon't talk fluent french though. Speeka zee eenglish and the aforesaid gendarme will repeat himself but a little bit louder before eventually giving up muttering to himself. Looking blankly at him also helps. Sadly gone are the days when you could drive as fast as you like down the Péage and the Périphérique (sigh) A lot of the time it's confusing to people that I am a Canadian living in France with a UK passport/licence... It can make things complicated and sometimes they just can't be bothered. I think if I were in their place, mouthy, irritating, cocky or nervous/aggitated people would tend to make me feel less lenient... So I do my best to be the opposite - honest, polite, and calm. I make an extra effort NOT to seem like I'm in any kind of hurry."There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adamUK 3 #12 November 12, 2012 I can understand why people would be confused! I've never really had bad vibes from the french police and politeness always helps. I remember havig a chat with some french friends (now living in the UK) over a few beers one night and they stated they'd never go up to a gendarme for directions like you do to a british copper. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ryoder 1,590 #13 November 12, 2012 Quote I remember havig a chat with some french friends (now living in the UK) over a few beers one night... The French drink beer???"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Remster 30 #14 November 12, 2012 Quote Quote I remember havig a chat with some french friends (now living in the UK) over a few beers one night... The French drink beer??? Yes. It's called Kro, and its awesome. Remster Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adamUK 3 #15 November 12, 2012 Shocking as it may seem. They also eat McDonalds too. . Kronenbourg's not to bad if it's really chilled. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JerryBaumchen 1,366 #16 November 12, 2012 Hi Nat, I arrived in France in Aug '62. At the in-country briefing they told us that all gendarmes know every English profanity there is and if you use one they will hit you over the head with their baton and put you in jail for 48 hours without being able to contact anyone. I never once cussed at a gendarme. JerryBaumchen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
faulknerwn 38 #17 November 12, 2012 We had some Hungarian guys visiting where I used to work. They traveled all over while they were here and sped like crazy. Got pulled over several times but you can't even read a Hungarian drivers license so they got warnings every time. Plus they always pretended to not speak English :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 16 #18 November 13, 2012 All this reminds me of this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koAyLPUftHo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheRealOps7 0 #19 November 23, 2012 Quote All this reminds me of this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koAyLPUftHo So.... don't do this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5wGdhS6kL4 ??? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest #20 November 23, 2012 Didn't work for me in Spain. Showed 'em my US license, still had to pay 70 Euros on-the-spot mh . "The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
potatoman 0 #21 November 23, 2012 I am in Africa, whre bribery is common. My friend exited a casino, with a couple of beers on the passanger seet, inebriated. Pulled over, confessed that he was drunk, and would like to give a bribe, but only thing is, gambled all his money out, but he can offer the two beers. The cop accepted. As he was gonna drive off, he says: " Hey, now I don't have something for the road back home", on which the cop gave him one of the beers back. He phoned me awake at 3 in the morning to tell me this one..... You have the right to your opinion, and I have the right to tell you how Fu***** stupid it is. Davelepka - "This isn't an x-box, or a Chevy truck forum" Whatever you do, don't listen to ChrisD. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davjohns 1 #22 November 23, 2012 Cops everywhere come in different flavors. Some are going to write you up no matter what. They would write their mother up. They think it is a mission from god or will get them promoted or something. Most are not interested in making more work for themselves for no reason. You got stopped. Punishment over. I never wrote just one ticket. I pulled you over. That was it. I started writing when I pulled you over for something..and you you didn't have a license...and the kids weren't secured...and you had an attitude that made me want to check other things...etc. Basically, if being pulled over wasn't likely to have any effect on you, you got to pay money for a ticket. Being polite and acknowledging whatever you did wrong will usually get you out of a ticket unless you were always destined for a ticket.I know it just wouldnt be right to kill all the stupid people that we meet.. But do you think it would be appropriate to just remove all of the warning labels and let nature take its course. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
piisfish 140 #23 November 23, 2012 preventive stopping. Thanks Davjohns for that kind of Police intelligence. I so much hate plain repressive cops. Had my share of "preventive" ones, and am always very thankful to meet them scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davjohns 1 #24 November 23, 2012 Quote preventive stopping. Thanks Davjohns for that kind of Police intelligence. I so much hate plain repressive cops. Had my share of "preventive" ones, and am always very thankful to meet them I had a few odd results from my philosophy. For instance: I didn't pull people over for rolling through red lights in the early morning hours. If you slowed down, checked to make sure it was safe, and continued...made sense to me. One night, I followed someone who did this just to make sure there was no evidence of DUI. It was 2:00am. The light was red, but I presumed he was smarter than the light. No evidence of DUI and I would have continued my patrol. He saw me and pulled over. I was kind of stuck. I had to get out to explain to him that I had no intention of stopping him. But having turned on my lights for safety and had contact, I had to report it to dispatch, which meant I had to run his license. Wanted for murder. Guilty conscience? Ah well. The job was full of little stories like that.I know it just wouldnt be right to kill all the stupid people that we meet.. But do you think it would be appropriate to just remove all of the warning labels and let nature take its course. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy9o8 2 #25 November 23, 2012 Quote she can always go for the old tried-and-true burst-into-tears mode. My daughter, who's in her early 20s and (trust me on this) is very attractive, did that when stopped for a minor infraction. Tells me cop was very nice, but... >>> Ticket. Quote I've talked my way out of about half my tickets. A little politeness and contrition go a long way. Yep, that's been roughly my experience & ratio, too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
