Speed limits when towing in France
We have visited France and Germany in the car on many occasions and have just returned from Arras. Although we have had a Caravan for fifteen years we have never ventured abroad with it and were considering doing so.
What does concern me though are the speed limits they impose on Autoroutes when towing a caravan.
On the A26 yesterday for instance it is 90kms maximum and when going downhill this is reduced to 45kms. This must make travelling very tedious so what do you regular European caravaners reckon ?
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I keep my speed in mph below my age in years - and none of you know how old I am.
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The 45 kph I assume was for a paticularly severe descent. I certainly have not come across that as a general rule. As to 90 kph, that is 56 mph, only 4 mph slower than our maximum and what I often travel at. The caravan tows very nicely at that speed and mpg is much higher than that achieved at 60 mph. Given how much quieter French autoroutes are and the number of convenient stopping places, journey times generally seem shorter than equivalent distances here in any event.
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The descent speeds are only on long steep downhills, fairly infrequent will make little difference to you. You don`t see many caravans sticking to 56mph especially the Dutch and Germans its also impractical when in a stream of trucks, I usually stick to around 60. You are far more likely to be caught speeding by breaking the speed limits that apply to all vehicles, speed cameras are numerous on N roads and this year the speed limit on the N roads is dropping to 80Km/h .
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We use the A26 quite often when visiting France and I have never found 56 miles per hour 'tedious' for towing. When we used the cruise control a couple of years ago hubby only took it off on four occasions between Calais and Reims. I defy anyone to do that on the M25 and as Molly'sMummy says what stream of trucks?
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'Stream of Trucks' - Oh yes near Paris, on the Brenner and Perpignan towards Spain!! Seriously, the speed limit is not a problem and the 80K downhill when applied is sensible anyway. Watch on A75 south on hill towards Loudeve, in the tunnel the limit is 70kph and there is a sneaky camera waiting for you.
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The 90kph limit on auroroutes only applies to outfits with a gross train weight (i.e. caravan plus car) of over 3500 kg otherwise the limit is 130 in normal conditions, 110 in reduced visibility. Whether the Gendarme can tell the difference in weight is an interesting point of course.
Streams of HGVs are quite usual on most Autoroutes but the A26 from Calais is often very quiet so maybe a few Brits have a false impression. That section also has more towing downhill restrictions than any other Autoroute that I have travelled on, and I have been on most of them. Around all major cities like Lyon the trucks are a nightmare and if you are restricted to the same maximum as the lorries then it is even worse, particularly on two lane autoroutes.
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Correction to the above, the speed limits apply to the Gross Train Mass which is the weight of the car plus it’s maximum towing capacity weight. This has been covered many times before on this forum and information is available on the Internet and on the Club's website.
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I have rarely encounter 'streams of trucks' on the few autoroutes I use, but I haven't used some of the ones mentioned.
However, I can't imagine they are more prevelant than on UK motorways and dual carriageways.
On some 2 lane routes in France, you aften get areas where lorries aren't allowed to overtake one another - a rule that should be introduced in the UK asap (M42 as an example).
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Ah, the dreaded rolling roadblock.
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where you're heading has a bearing on the crossing selection and, possibly, the amount of traffic encountered....
these days we generally use the western crossings but used Dover to dunkerque we headed for Denmark...
one (peage) autoroute where we do still see plenty of trucks is the A10 Bordeaux south to Bayonne...no real alternative I guess and this was a free motorway in the past...
still a route we use as part of our winter western 'route to the sun'....
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When we towed a caravan we liked to average 60-65 mph on good clear sections and in good weather. There are bits on most autoroutes in France limited to 80kph or less but these are generally on steep downhill sections or over a viaduct.
Good tip for overtaking lorries is use an uphill stretch (if you have the power) as the lorry will inevitably slow but you are able to keep momentum and you do not get the air change so much as you pass..
We always find the A9 full or lorries in certain sections going to and from spain no doubt.
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I'll second that AD. I try to travel Sunday, especially first day from port, but been in quite a few Aires, and straight back out again, as couldn't park!
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Yes - driven usually by a Dutchman
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Its still sketchy for me, are the new French regulations talking about the cars GTM (mine would be 4505kg) way over the 3500kg limit so a reduced speed restriction.
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Weight of car plus caravan if taken to a weighbridge, in which case it would come in at under 3500kg and I could travel at up to the upper limit.
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Its still sketchy for me, are the new French regulations talking about the cars GTM only (mine would be 4505kg) way over the 3500kg limit so a reduced speed restriction.
or
Weight of car plus caravan if taken to a weighbridge, in which case it would come in at under 3500kg and I could travel at up to the upper limit.
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If you car has a Gross Train Weight in excess of 3.5T (which yours appears to) you are restricted to 90Kmph regardless of the weight of the trailer. On the face of it, it is daft, but from the point of law enforcement I guess the French Police feel all they have to do is check the spec label under the bonnet without having to get into the if`s and but`s about the trailer weight.
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Hi OP,
28 years of towing on the continent and two years driving a big MH and, like many on here, love driving over there, it is a breath of fresh air.
It sounds to me that you are always in a hurry and are impatient and are probably not suited to towing a caravan on the continent. It is different in the England where with traffic over here we cant go faster than 50mph anyway. Lifestyle review required!
BillC
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whilst I acknowledge that this thread is about autoroute towing, it's worth noting this from Wikipedia re French default speed limits on 'secondary' (non autoroute?) roads...
"It is expected that the French government gives on 9 January 2018 a statement to define 80 km/h (instead of 90) as a standard speed limit on secondary network, due to the many fatalities existing on this network. This occurs after an experimentation which included a speed limit change from 90 to 80 between 2010-2015 and 2015-2017 seemed to show it is possible to reduce fatalities."
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