disabling speed alerts
  • ronh
    Posts: 10
    Hi all - now that it is illegal to use speed camera alerts in France (stupid idea - but what can you do) can anyone avise me how I can disable this feature on the Nuvi 1490. Don't want to risk that sort of fine.
  • popej
    Posts: 696
    See: http://www.garmin.com/uk/extras-camera-alerts/#france
  • struttob
    Posts: 67
    @ronh

    They are SAFETY CAMERAS not speed cameras :wink: as I understood it if you do an update via Garmin it will disable the cameras or change them to a different description like danger area or something.

    Anyway the fine is supposed to be €11 and as they cannot touch your GPS it seems impossible to enforce !

    If you get flashed by a static camera as a foreigner they do not follow up the offence (at the moment) the ones to look out for are the mobile Gendarmes hiding in the bushes and fields at the side of the road !

    Make sure that you have your Hi-vis jackets, one for each person in the car available for use without getting out of the car, your breathalysers, bulbs, warning triangle, first aid kit, these things they do check.

    Bob
  • ronh
    Posts: 10
    thanks everyone
  • Seldom
    Posts: 263
    struttob said:


    Make sure that you have your Hi-vis jackets, one for each person in the car available for use without getting out of the car, your breathalysers, bulbs, warning triangle, first aid kit, these things they do check.



    Renting a car in France sounds like quite an ordeal. Is all that standard equipment?
  • sussamb
    Posts: 4,226
    If you rent ... yes 😃
  • struttob
    Posts: 67
    Bit of an update here following 10 days in France in the car, I updated the 1490T just before I went and found the following during my travels :

    There was no warning for fixed static speed cameras, neither as a camera or a "danger zone" however to my surprise I did get a lot of warnings of mobile speed camera locations which I did not expect !! Not sure how legal this is and maybe Garmin need to look at what they are providing !!?

    Bob
  • jonnop
    Posts: 218
    When you say you updated your 1490T, was this software, map or safety/dangerous zones.

    My 1490T has all three of these right up to date. I have been in France for the last two days and certainly had two "Dangerous Zones" warnings flagged up.

    One of these was on a "D" road running down to Montreuil-sur-Mer and the other on the E40 between the E15 and Coquelles - this is running westbound in the outskirts of Calais.
  • DerekW
    Posts: 194
    The big problem is that if you are approached by a French policeperson who has spotted that you have a SatNav in the car (that you had previously disabled the speed camera alerts) how do you prove to the policeperson that the alerts are disabled - it is more than likely that the french understanding of English is better than the brit travelling in France, even if the FPP do not claim to understand English. So there is a good chance that the satnav will be crushed and the car confiscated and the brit would be innocent.

    It would be far better if Garmin removed the information from the French maps completely.
  • sussamb
    Posts: 4,226
    Think there's some confusion here 😃

    IF you've updated your GPS software (I think from 5.90 onwards) then your GPS is legal in France. It's also legal to have 'dangerous zones' flagged up, and that is now what Garmin supply.

    I also understand that the French police cannot simply confiscate, or even examine, your GPS unless they have good reason to do so ... never-the-less provided you haven't loaded any 'third party' camera warnings then you will be within the law if your software is up to date.
  • Boyd
    Posts: 11,515
    DerekW said:

    It would be far better if Garmin removed the information from the French maps completely.



    Wait awhile.... I am not familiar with the EU versions of the Nuvi, but I assume that they are like the US versions. The speed cameras are not part of the map at all. They are add-on POI files. You could simply delete the files and save them on your computer if you're worried. I don't use alerts here in the US, but I'm sure somebody else here can tell you where the files are stored.

    However, really it sounds like you're concerned that the police will just assume that you have speed alerts on your GPS regardless of what you do. And evidently your language skills aren't good enough to explain.

    Maybe it would be best to just not use a GPS in France if you're concerned about this?
  • sussamb
    Posts: 4,226
    Boyd said:

    DerekW said:

    It would be far better if Garmin removed the information from the French maps completely.



    Wait awhile.... I am not familiar with the EU versions of the Nuvi, but I assume that they are like the US versions. The speed cameras are not part of the map at all. They are add-on POI files. You could simply delete the files and save them on your computer if you're worried. I don't use alerts here in the US, but I'm sure somebody else here can tell you where the files are stored.



    Yep, exactly right ... and for anyone who simply wants to remove the French files rather than update their software the file to delete will be named somthing like FranceCyclopsSample.gpi or safety_camera_france.gpi, and it'll be in the POI folder :wink:
  • sussamb
    Posts: 4,226
    Incidentally the warning in France now looks like this:

    image
  • DerekW
    Posts: 194
    Thanks - that is the safe answer - delete
    Garmin/Garmin/POI/FranceCyclopsSample.gpi

    after taking a backup of course.

    You need a Satnav just as much in France as you do anywhere else.
    In fact more so so you can be amused and confused by the name pronunciations.
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