1/27/2013
French Speed Camera Sends Ticket To PolandBogus speed camera ticket creates international incident as Polish government helps citizen accused by France.
A speed camera in France falsely accused a motorist in Poland of speeding. On December 11, a student in Warsaw named Mariusz was surprised to find a "notice of contravention of the traffic law" mailed to him by the French government. The ticket claimed to have photographed his Peugeot traveling 57 km/h (35 MPH) in a 50 km/h (31 MPH) zone on the Route de Corbeil in Longjumeau, in the southern suburbs of Paris. For allegedly traveling 4 MPH over the limit, the noticed demanded payment of 135 euros (US $182).
Mariusz never left Poland in October and is innocent, but he has no way to fight the ticket, Gazeta Wyborcza reoprted. Failing to pay would cause him problems when he does go to France to visit friends. The French Embassy in Warsaw only helps French citizens who have problems in Poland. That leaves Mariusz to find his own way to contact officials in France to fight the ticket. He sought the help of a local newspaper that called the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs which the reported convinced to reach out to the consulate in France.