‘That’s disgusting, being fined for breaking the law. We’re British it’s not fair.’
In another example of ‘poor us’ journalism coming from the pro-Brexit press, the Express railed against the “fury” of British motorists who have received French driving fines post-Brexit.
“Thousands of British road users have been issued driving fines after holidays to France even after the UK’s withdrawal from the EU,” it claimed in an article entitled: “Brexit fury as frustrated British motorists sent 60,000 French driving fines.”
Yes, the number of fines sent to UK drivers has increased over the past 12 months, with tickets up from 59,836 in 2022, as the report notes, but it’s hardly a conspiracy against the British as the Express would have you believe.
The article quotes a couple of ‘outraged’ drivers, who were dismayed about getting a fine for speeding. One said:
“The fines came to our UK address, which came as a shock. We paid them, but we were under the impression that there was no agreement and DVLA should not have given them our address.”
It’s not until near the end of the article when the newspaper grudgingly admits that the DVLA has bilateral agreements with certain countries, such as France, and uses mechanisms like mutual legal assistance to share vehicle data for law enforcement.
It even mentions that many of these fines are issued digitally by French authorities, rather than by officers in person. The technology now allows French enforcement teams to catch offenders automatically by reading number plates, an innovation that has very little to do with Brexit.
Some readers weren’t fooled, with social media comments sarcastically pointed out that if you break the law in France, you get fined – Brexit or no Brexit.
“When it comes to French speeding fines it appears Brexit didn’t mean Brexit…” wrote Leeds for Europe in a Facebook post.
Another commented: “So what had being in EU to do with UK driving behaviour in France. You break the law in France so they send you a fine – tough!!”
“They will never get it will they! The sad thing is their readers believe the rubbish they write!” was another.
“That’s disgusting, being fined for breaking the law. We’re British it’s not fair,” another reader posted.
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