Skip to main content

Faster

A handful of British-registered performance cars proved something of a handful for the French police recently. The five cars, including two Porsches and a Lamborghini, rocketed past an off-duty officer travelling in his own vehicle along a stretch of autoroute close to the Spanish border. Because of the high speeds involved, the French police opted to use a helicopter operating out of its base in Bayonne to track the cars. The drivers did spot the helicopter tailing them and then slowed down but were still
July 1, 2015 Read time: 1 min
A handful of British-registered performance cars proved something of a handful for the French police recently. The five cars, including two Porsches and a Lamborghini, rocketed past an off-duty officer travelling in his own vehicle along a stretch of autoroute close to the Spanish border. Because of the high speeds involved, the French police opted to use a helicopter operating out of its base in Bayonne to track the cars. The drivers did spot the helicopter tailing them and then slowed down but were still booked for speeding when they halted to pay their tolls at the next booth. The French police were less than impressed and imposed large on-the-spot fines, although they had not been able to determine the exact speed of the vehicles from the air.

Related Content

  • Asecap Days – Istanbul 2023
    February 16, 2024
    The “vast lakes of data” collected daily by global highway operators are going to waste meaning opportunities to improve services and boost revenue are continually lost. This must change, reports Geoff Hadwick from the ASECAP Days 2023 conference in Istanbul.
  • Philipp Swarovski lays down the marker
    June 10, 2019
    Swarco’s chief operating officer Philipp Swarovski shares his thoughts on highway safety and infrastructure in an age of uncertain future needs. David Arminas reports It was in Austria in 1969 when Manfred Swarovski opened his first glass bead factory. Five years later, operations started in the US. As the years rolled by there followed acquisitions and expansion of manufacturing facilities as well as a shift into intelligent transportation systems globally. Fast forward to 2019 and the family compan
  • Asphalt airport runway refurbishment
    February 17, 2012
    Swedish contractor Peab Asfalt generally works on major road and highway projects in the inland portion of the country. However the company has shown itself able to take on a considerable challenge, by repaving an airport runway.
  • How many wheels?
    October 9, 2012
    A British driver was so affected by alcohol that he did not realise his car had shed a front wheel after he collided with a wall. The man drove for around 1.6km after hitting the wall, with sparks trailing behind his car and risking igniting the vehicle. He drove the car 13km from his home to the centre of a nearby town, after consuming a bottle of wine for reasons that have not been fully explained. On reaching his destination, he parked his battered Seat car and staggered across the road where he was prom