French Towing Speeds and Gross Train Weight

I believe the author on the Practical Caravan forum is correct. I found this in my notes which I believe came from the Club a while back.

We have now received confirmation from the legal department of Automobile Club de France regarding speed limits:

Vehicle towing a caravan/trailer where the vehicle has a gross train mass of under 3.5t - or a motorhome that has a gross vehicle weight under 3.5t*                                                       Motorway 130**
Dual carriagway 110**
Single carriageway 90**

Motorhome which has a gross vehicle weight over 3.5t*
Motorway 110
Dual carriageway 100
Single carriageway 80

Vehicle towing a caravan/trailer where the vehicle has a gross train mass over 3.5t
Motorway 90
Dual carriageway 90
Single carriageway 80

peedee

Hi peedee, that is excellent thank you. 

However, it does seem rather strange that I with a VW Alltrack Passat can tow exactly the same caravan as a much heavier 4 x 4 and that I can travel at a higher speed.  It seems to go against the 85% weight car /caravan match ratio where the heavier the car the more stable driving should be. 

Ray

Reading further on a Gov.uk site this is stated. 

What is the difference between gross vehicle weight and gross train weight?
A car, van or goods vehicle exceeding its gross vehicle weight is overloaded and breaking the law. Vehicles will also have a gross train weight (GTW) or gross combination weight (GCW) that refers to the maximum total weight of the vehicle plus the maximum weight of trailer that it can tow.6 Jul 2023

So this seems to say that it is a combined weight of car and caravan. 

Ray

I think my mind has been confused by reading too many articles.

My vehicles has a Gross train weight 4,305kg and therefore my rig would comply as I thought it would within the lower French towing speed limits. 

Ray

Slightly off the main subject, but important nonetheless : please remember that the national speed limit on all non motorway roads in France is 80kph, except for those departments which have increased it to 90kph.

Dual carriageways and other roads may be an exception.

It's a bit of a minefield when travelling long distance, but you just have to keep an eye out for the speed limit signs.  More info here.

Just again calculated my combined weights 

Caravan laden max 1480 kg

Car  GVW.                2270

so total  3750kg GTW

So it is over the  3.5 t anyway but does the legal speeds refer to your actual weights or that max permitted that is accredited to your vehicle ?

Ray

I am wondering if instead of the word vehicle, which could refer to car/motorhome and a caravan/trailer combination, the word outfit was actually meant? The rule would make more sense then and could equally apply to a motorhome of less than 3.5tons towing a trailer.

peedee

Yes that would be an improvement in terminology .

Ray

This is also useful to know :-

A margin of 5 km/h (below 100 km/h) or 5% (below 100 km/h) is taken into account, always in favour of the driver. It is therefore impossible to be penalized for insignificant speeding, since this margin must always be added.

https://www.antai.gouv.fr/en/automated-control/#:~:text=A%20margin%20of%205%20km,margin%20must%20always%20be%20added.

No, the plated weights count for French speed limits, not the actual weights.

The car is a vehicle and a caravan is a vehicle, too. Therefore, a car towing a caravan are two vehicles.

You can't add the permissible gross weight of the car to the permissible gross weight of the caravan to arrive at the gross train weight. Gross train weight is the sum of all axle loads of the combination, not the sum of each individual gross weight.