Can anyone tell me what the stickers are on the backs of cars in France.
A white oval with a red A
I always thought they were for learner drivers but I have seen them on taxis
they are for people who have just passed the driving test or within 2 or 3 years i cant remember which.
you dont have to have on on wagons or coaches thou.
salut
chris
Andorrha?
AlexxInNY:
Andorrha?
No Alex, its not a nationality plate. Its another type.
Something like a Green L I think
The red ‘A’ stands for ‘apprenti’. French drivers have to run 'em for two years after passing that oh so easy french test, as Chris explained above. Where we live you can normally tell such drivers before you even spy the red 'n white sticker as they’re usually the ones driving about 15km/h faster than anyone else and generally exhibiting the know-it-all-now attitude to road craft. (The Lexus style tail lights and boom box stereos also tend to give 'em away)
The Mrs has just told me that the french (of which she is one) tend to label the 'A’s as ‘abruti’ meaning idiot, or something along those lines. I tend to favour that explanation too, but of course you can’t tar everyone with the same brush…
And then there are ‘les VSP’ (voitures sans permis), like the little Aixams, which fall into another category of foolishness altogether 
Craig 111:
And then there are ‘les VSP’ (voitures sans permis), like the little Aixams, which fall into another category of foolishness altogether
Tell me about it, Craig! I always keep a special eye on them. Have had them pull straight out, from the left even, when rolling fully freighted. Do they not have to past any test at all?
One fellow round here is actually called ‘Sans Permis’. He’s not old, just permanently alcoholically challenged. The story is that he gets plenty of pulls by the gendarmes, but they can’t take away a licence he doesn’t have!
Completely off topic but may be going to Blighty again in January, taking advantage of the cheap + free ticket on Speedferries from Boulogne. Will definitely overnight at Hautvillers again. Will give you the nod in case you’re free.
Salut, David.
My moped doesnt even have plates on it and its legal,(belgum next door was selling it cheap,£200,4yr old 5000kms,couldnt say no)
the best thing about the boy racers is when they try and take on dads mondeo, with their supped up shopping trollys, it is the st24 2.5 v6 putting out about 180bhp 
all the badges are small, and still looks like a bog standard rep mobile with alloys and an evo spoiler (yep dad is a born boy racer 
) it is when they catch up at the 3rd or 4th set of lights with a very confused look on their faces, you just have to feel sorry for them.
no amount of bass or big wheels will make up for a big engine.
as for the axiums they are just dangerous, when i was doing my driving week i had one pull out on me, lucky the brakes on the wagon were serviced before we left. i had another one pull out on me on the a75 not so long ago when i was in my suzuki with a car trailor and a heavy staircase on the back, was doing about 85 kph, the old granney just pulled on with out looking i hit the brakes and my 4x4 doesnt have abs, so locked up and only just missed the back of her 
i was chewing holes in the seat covers, gave her a load of horn and she just looked around as if to say what is all the noise about?? she just didnt have a clue 
salut
chris
Don’t think all old grannies are useless drivers though. My mother scared the out of my daughter last year. Mum took my daughter into Kirkcaldy for a girly day out, shopping or something. They took the back-road for a change, in mums honda civic. Mum had the back-end hanging out in 4 wheel power slides (or whatever 
). She had learned to drive on that road, in a VW camper van.
Obviously my mum is an old granny, cause she is my daughters gran .
the difference is simon she has a licence, the drivers of these little micro cars dont!!!
so what ever they do it doesnt matter as they cant have it taken away
they can be very dangerous as with most old foggys (not froggies froggy) they invariably have bad eye sight and worse hearing, good job that the idea didnt catch on over there
chris
I`ve been overtaking at 85mph+ and had the jump back in quick style even though there was nothing in the mirror when I looked,only to find it was some grey haired granny holding on to the steering wheel for grim death trying to get past
thats the same all over thou froggy, not just over here 
chris
froggy:
I`ve been overtaking at 85mph+ and had the jump back in quick style even though there was nothing in the mirror when I looked,only to find it was some grey haired granny holding on to the steering wheel for grim death trying to get past
Not in a sans permis Froggy. An elderly friend of mine introduced us to his wife who proudly showed off her SP saying it would do 65kph. He stood behind her grinning and slowly shaking his head saying ‘it has 2 gears - go and come back!’
Salut, David.
you guys would get a kick out of the way things are in my town when it comes to licensing. there is a surprising number of people that have been driving for years without ever even had applied for a license. every now and the the news channels like to do stories on this. recently, they ran a story listing the names of people who owe the most in traffic tickets. the winners all had around $35000 in fines. as for the young punks that like going 100mph in a 30, yeah we got plenty of those too.
Thank you, gorgeousload, for that non-sequiter. You seem to be the king of non-sequiters…
i’m a little put off by that comment, alex.
AlexxInNY:
Thank you, gorgeousload, for that non-sequiter. You seem to be the king of non-sequiters…
Go on you lot, look it up, I’ve just done so - is he being insulting
Salut, David.
i’m sorry. it’s not my intention to start a ■■■■■■■ match. i didn’t think my comment was so far off subject as to warrant it a non sequitur. but if two people say so then i’ll do what i can do to pay better attention. i enjoy the subject matter of this forum greatly and the inputs from the people involved.
insert [zb] in the zb
you wouldn’t be trying to get round the auto censor, would you 
Denis F
gorgeousload:
. i didn’t think my comment was so far off subject as to warrant it a non sequitur. .
looked ok to me