| Dipped headlights all day and a hi-viz for all riders en France! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/2630802/British-police-help-French-crack-down-on-UK-speeders.html French motorway patrol officials say eight out of 10 drivers caught speeding in the Calais region every summer are British. Half of UK motorists pulled over in July and August are doing more than 120mph, French police said. Two traffic officers from Kent and a French linguist have now teamed up with a French Gendarmerie patrol on the A26 motorway south of Calais to discipline British drivers. They are working alongside their French counterparts to remind our holidaymakers of the speed limits on French roads. "Some British drivers treat French roads like a racetrack," said Calais police lieutenant Patrick Vanderstraeten. "They think that as soon as they get abroad, the law doesn't apply to them. "Failure to keep to the speed limit has led to four deaths and 13 injured on the motorways of the Calais region since the start of this year. "Half of the speeding offences detected at more than 200kph in this area have been committed by British drivers." So many British motorists now use the A26 motorway that illuminated roadside panels warning drivers to slow down are now be flashed up in English as well as French, he said. He added: "The British sometimes refuse to pull over when waved down, and some even try to outrun police cars and get away. It's like a game to them. "We have several unmarked patrol cars capable of 170mph, so drivers should be warned they are unlikely to be able to get away from us." The speed limit on French motorways is 81mph in dry conditions and 65mph in the wet. Experienced French motorists know they can drive up to 90mph without risking a speeding ticket, but any faster and they will be stopped. The highest illegal speed ever recorded on the A26 is 153mph, clocked up by Sean Barlow, from Surrey, in November 2005. He was jailed for five days for dangerous driving. The Anglo-French patrols in France this month are also providing leaflets with road safety advice on French roads and distributing high visibility vests - now compulsory in France - to British motorcyclists without one. Chief Inspector Roscoe Walford, the head of Kent road policing, said: "We worked alongside the Gendarmerie to give and receive road safety advice, learn good practice, help with language difficulties, promote the Kent Police travelling abroad web page and observe French procedures. "We can always learn something from our colleagues across local, regional and national borders and they can learn from us." Kent Police will host officers from the Gendarmerie Nationale in a similar operation in the UK in September.
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