Already tested on a motorway in France, this bridge placed above the tracks can cost you up to 375 euros if you don’t stop there. Explanations.
If you see this bridge lined with cameras during your next motorway journey, know that you are being filmed and that it is better to monitor your bank account and your bills the following days! New barrier-free tolls are on the rise. No more (sometimes endless) queues at the toll gates. Since 2022, another type of toll has appeared in France and it will multiply in the months to come.
Her name ? The “free flow”, or “free flow” in French. It was inaugurated on a portion of the A79, opened last November. On a portion between Digoin, in Saône-et-Loire, and Montmarault, in Allier, six gantries equipped with cameras make it possible to identify the license plate and the type of vehicle to establish the amount of the toll. No more barriers, therefore no more stops, this innovative system aims to make traffic flow more fluid, especially during long weekends and school holidays, to eliminate waiting times at tolls and to simplify user payment.
Smile you are filmed, recorded and beware if you do not pay quickly!
Without a toll gate, how do you pay for your trip? The easiest way is to subscribe to the Télépéage service. In this case, the system is the same as when passing through an electronic toll gate. With the difference, and it is significant, that the car is identified as soon as it passes under a gate without therefore having to slow down, or even to stop, which sometimes happens in front of less reactive electronic toll barriers. Invoicing is then automatic and the user is debited from his account a few days after having taken the toll portion of the motorway. If you are not a subscriber, you can pay online on the site aliae.com by entering your license plate or on terminals present on motorway service areas.
What about those who do not have a “télépéage” badge?
On the A79, as will be the case for all future sections of “free flow” motorways, for example on the A14 in Normandy from 2024, the payment deadline has been set at 72 hours after passing under the last gate. It is therefore better not to be airheaded, or seek to take advantage of the system, especially since many agreements between motorway companies and specialized companies have been made and these new generation tolls will multiply very quickly in France.
- The deadline for paying the amount to be paid is 3 days. If you make payment within 3 days after passing through the gantry, you only pay the toll charges and no other compensation.
- If you “forget” to do so within 3 days, you will have to pay the toll charges but also €10 reduced flat-rate compensation if you do so within 15 days of your journey.
- After these 15 days, and within two months, the amount to be paid further increases: 90 € of increased fixed compensation to be added to the toll charges.
- After these 2 months, still in the absence of payment, the note climbs again with a fine of 375 euros.
- Finally, from 6 unpaid fines over a period of 12 months, the fine becomes a “habitual offence”, specifies Vinci Autoroutes. This offense is punishable by a fine of 7500 euros!