As there is no agreement in place between Monaco and the European Union, the drivers of Monaco-registered vehicles are not routinely prosecuted for breaking the speed limit.
In 2022, 81,092 Monaco-plated cars were clocked breaking the limits, down somewhat from the 90,621 in 2021, and up from the coronavirus year of 2020. The peak year was 2018, when 102,192 Monaco speedsters were seen by cameras, with 54,227 in 2019, according to the National Agency for the Computerised Processing of Offences, via the Road Safety Department of the French Ministry of the Interior.
Most of these offences were not followed up, as the result of the lack of a bilateral agreement.
However, and it’s a big ‘but,’ if offenders are pulled over by French police in person having been caught speeding they face the same penalties as a French driver, including, in the most serious of cases, the impounding of the car.
There is a risk in such circumstances of the French police checking on previous offences and adding to the total bill.
Unsettlingly, according to the Prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes “France and the Monegasque authorities have set up a mutual legal assistance agreement in criminal matters allowing the possibility of spontaneous transmission of information.”
There are suggestions and hints that France will try harder to enforce fines on speeding drivers caught by the cameras, even though there is no formal agreement in place. In fact, what seems to be happening is that only in the most serious of cases are Monaco drivers pursued by the French authorities.
In other words, the occasional flash may be nothing to worry about, but it’s better not to provoke the French authorities with multiple offences.
As the UK has left the European Union, the drivers of UK-registered cars are also able to flout the rules, at least for the moment, and within limits.
DISCLAIMER: This article should not be read as an incitement to break the law and the publishers at NEWS sarl fully support French speed limits
FILE PHOTO: Wikipedia
