[KenB]

We are heading off to France and I was looking in the manual re "Beam Deflectors"


This is what it said regarding driving abroad on R.H. side of the road:

Vehicles with halogen headlights Have the headlights adjusted by a workshop.

Seems a bit odd !!
Has anybody driven abroad and if so - what did you do ( if anything ) regarding dipped headlights ?


My previous VX ( a Signum ) had the adjustment built into the headlight unit.
But this is not an option on the Antara. ( 2012 / 2013 build )

 

[Dave47]

Hi Ken,Have just bought the usual stick on deflectors. Used them last year and if I remember correctly you use only the circular section. Placement was tricky but details are in the leaflet.
Have a good trip.

 

[alimac]

Hi Ken

was in France for two weeks last month - kept the deflectors in the packet in the glovebox - passed many gendarmes and police municipal - nobody bothered!

 

[KenB]

Hi Dave - thanks for that.
It was suggested to me that there was no need - but I can't see this being the case.


Hi alimac

kept the deflectors in the packet in the glovebox

Did you buy the stick-on ones available from Halfords etc ?

Edited by: KenB

 

[Dave47]

Hi Ken,Yes bought from Halfords, about £10 I think. Alwaysfit them at port as I have seen vans pulled over for weight checks etc by French police.

 

[KenB]

Thanks Dave

I have seen vans pulled over for weight checks etc by French police.

I have been going to France for over 20 years ......... I get the impression sometimes that we Brits are targeted as easy money !!

 

[JR123]

.Edited by: JR123

 

[Dave47]

Yep you could be right! Hence the beam benders, high vis jackets, spare bulbs & fuses, fire extinguisher, spare wheel, triangle (2 for Spain) oh, and the breathaliser, packet of 2 of course. Have i forgotten anything???
Oh yes turn off the speed cameras on the sat nav!!!

 

[KenB]

Hi Dave

Yep - you need spare bulbs ..... even if it is a major operation to replace the headlight ones !!

I have never seen any foreigners with beam deflectors - I doubt if they comply with our laws. They use our motorway system for free too.
We should impose a standard charge ........ but that would probably be illegal !!

 

[KenB]

Have i forgotten anything???

They also have different speed limits for towing downhill !!
My friend got done for that ... he was livid as he knows he was well within the limit.

 

[Dave47]

Hi Ken,You are right you never see beam benders on foreign cars and in fact my son drove a left hooker with Spanish plates for over a year here and was never stopped once. What an excellent idea to charge for the use of our motorways, we already do it (M6 Toll) don't we, unfortunately we all get charged still we don't have to pay for the caravan now!
The SE has HID headlights, and as far as I am aware we are not expected to carry a spare bulb for these as it is presumably a garage job to change them. Although I suspect that if you just had to produce and not fit Mr Plod would be little the wiser!!

 

[Spantara]

Hi Dave
They use our motorway system for free too.
We should impose a standard charge ........ but that would probably be illegal !!

Yes it would as that would be discriminatory. The way around that is to pat a toll on UK motorways for everybody but, honestly, I doubt if many UK citizens would want that.

What annoys me most is the fact that many of the motorways here in Spain and in Portugal have been built with EU money and we still have to pay a toll. In the end, this means that most people avoid these highways and still use the old roads.

Alternatively, one could do away with road tax and tolls altogether and put the charge on the price of fuel - user pays! Even visitors to the UK need to buy fuel.

Interestingly, in South Africa the price of fuel includes third-party insurance which I think is great. It means that every motorist has third-party insurance. I am sure many have had an accident with an unisured driver and know the negative consequences very well. Why then can we not have a similar regime here in Europe?Edited by: Spantara

 

[Dave47]

Hi Dave

What annoys me most is the fact that many of the motorways here in Spain and in Portugal have been built with EU money and we still have to pay a toll. In the end, this means that most people avoid these highways and still use the old roads.

Alternatively, one could do away with road tav and tolls altogether and put the charge on the price of fuel - user pays! Even visitors to the UK need to buy fuel.

Interestingly, in South Africa the price of fuel includes third-party insurance which I think is great. It means that every motorist has third-party insurance. I am sure many have had an accident with an unisured driver and know the negative consequences very well. Why then can we not have a similar regime here in Europe?

Hi Spantara,

Yep why do you think we enjoy driving on your motorways, much quieter than ours.
I have thought for a long time that tax etc should be included in the price of fuel, that way no tax dogers and the more you use the more you pay.
I believe other countries have 3rd party ins included, in Australia I think it is part of the road tax, we are way behind the times in the UK.

 

[Dilligaf]

Don't you think we pay enough tax on fuel. You'll just encourage more stealing of fuel.

 

[Dave47]

Well possibly, but if the government took less fuel tax that would pay for a road tax/fuel scheme, and shutting down the DVLA licencing system would reinstate their losses. The only problem is it would put people out of work, but isn't one of the aims of this government to reduce the number of civil servants!!!

 

[Spantara]

Don't you think we pay enough tax on fuel. You'll just encourage more stealing of fuel.

I am sure that we all agree that we pay way too much tax on fuel!

The fundamental problem is that the taxes on fuel are not going back into motoring or even to combatting the negative effects of motoring. Most, if not all, European governments see fuel tax as an income to be spent any way they like.

If fuel taxes went back to the motoring sector and were not used for other things then we would need to pay a lot less.

Road tax, car tax, fuel tax and all other taxes imposed for road usage (except VAT) should benefit that sector. After all, noone expects, for example, light dues (a tax imposed upon shipping for the provisions of buoys and lighthouses) to pay for roads, so why should taxes paid by road users be used for other issues?

Fuel in South Africa, where the roads are just as good as most European roads, today costs about 13 Rands/litre.

That's 83 pence! And that incudes third party insurance!

And as an afterthought - stolen fuel would hardly be an issue if the price came down but even if fuel is stolen it is a police matter rather than a fiscal one.

I rest my case m'lord.


Edited by: Spantara

 

[Dave47]

Well spoken sir ....

Perhaps next Minister of Transport.... I will vote for you.

 

[Spantara]

Perhaps next Minister of Transport .... I will vote for you.  

Thank you kindly sir.

I have been looking for quite some time for something to do when I retire in 6 years time. Good suggestion.

A minister's post -
- not too taxing (pun intended),
- fringe benefits that most can only dream about
- subsidised lunches,
- a bar at work

The only drawback is that one needs to be elected (I know I now have one vote) and that one would have some pretty dodgy workmates

 

[KenB]

Spantara - You now have two votes

I seem to have started something with this thread

 

[wilma08]

Spantara had three votes, keep it going