Club 80-90 Forums

I'm not normally one to scare monger but this report comes through the AA from the foreign office and is based on recent events (last 7 weeks) so take heed all travelling on the near continent.:

Driving in France, Belgium or Netherlands?

According to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office there has been a series of robberies and express kidnappings on or around the motorway connecting Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Ghent, Dunkirk and the Channel Ports - particularly towards the southern end of the route.

Perpetrators of these incidents have been using threats of violence and carrying knives and/or firearms.

In the early hours they have been flagging down vehicles, seeming to seek assistance, or kidnapping single drivers outside petrol stations or 24-hour stores.

The perpetrators have generally been gangs with Eastern European connections, sometimes using UK-registered vehicles. They have been robbing victims on the spot or taking their victims under force to the nearest ATM to extract as much cash as their cards will allow.

28 May 2012

Martin

as i mentioned before martin , we almost got turned over by a gang in an airre between dunkirk and calais the year we saw you in dover.

this has been a problem for a while

doesn't sound good, we are hoping to not lay eye on one motorway on our journey through France

Indeed Jason, this isn't anything new but for the Home Office to put out such a warning the issue must be even worse than normal.
My advice would be to get off the ferry and go for at least 3 - 4hrs before stopping, get as far away from those quiet overnight service stations as you can. Try are park in busy places and close to other campers.

Martin

That and carry a baseball bat ........

keith wrote:That and carry a baseball bat ........

Dont forget the glove and ball, to make it a play thing

Here in Southern Ireland there have been sporadic robberies on old people in their homes, with some being seroiusly injured. Even if the person is not harmed, the expierence is so traumatic that it often ends the independent lifestyle they had previously enjoyed.Now many people will have a golf club or a hurley inside the door etc. However I have been informed that the authorities take a dim view of baseball bats, as baseball is not an indidgenous sport played here, so the only reason you would have one to hand is to injure some poor defensless thieving scumbag! The fact that budget cuts are closing many rural Garda (police) stations is overlooked. PS don't you just love a game of rounders?, easier to use in a smaller space, and those extending wheel nut wrenches sold by Lidl and Aldi are so convenient for the lady van driver. Not at all like the extending nightsticks beloved by the American police................................. Mack in Cavan

California Dreamin wrote:My advice would be to get off the ferry and go for at least 3 - 4hrs before stopping, get as far away from those quiet overnight service stations as you can. Try are park in busy places and close to other campers.

Martin

that is the best bit of advice you can get .


dont faff about, get well away from the port areas, thats where the majority of the dodgy buggers are, plus trust your gut, if an airre feels dodgy, or is dimly lit, closed services etc, the chances are it probably is.

dont forget they are only 20k apart on the auto routes so keep on looking.

get to a well lit one full of motorhomes and dive in the middle, its waaayy safer.

if you must carry a bat make sure its got a wrist strap, you wouldnt want it used on you!!

lloydy wrote: we are hoping to not lay eye on one motorway on our journey through France

we thought the same, but france is huge and we just werent getting anywhere fast!!

jason k wrote:

lloydy wrote: we are hoping to not lay eye on one motorway on our journey through France

we thought the same, but france is huge and we just werent getting anywhere fast!!

if you want to get somewhere fast then france is the wrong country and you're driving the wrong vehicle.

jason k wrote:

California Dreamin wrote:My advice would be to get off the ferry and go for at least 3 - 4hrs before stopping, get as far away from those quiet overnight service stations as you can. Try are park in busy places and close to other campers.

Martin

that is the best bit of advice you can get .


dont faff about, get well away from the port areas, thats where the majority of the dodgy buggers are, plus trust your gut, if an airre feels dodgy, or is dimly lit, closed services etc, the chances are it probably is.

dont forget they are only 20k apart on the auto routes so keep on looking.

get to a well lit one full of motorhomes and dive in the middle, its waaayy safer.

if you must carry a bat make sure its got a wrist strap, you wouldnt want it used on you!!

each to his own, but i prefer totally obscure spots well off the beaten track. the well lit full of rich tourists park ups are the main target for the thievin' bastids cos people feel secure in their lemminglike crowd..........

oorwullie wrote:

jason k wrote:

lloydy wrote: we are hoping to not lay eye on one motorway on our journey through France

we thought the same, but france is huge and we just werent getting anywhere fast!!

if you want to get somewhere fast then france is the wrong country and you're driving the wrong vehicle.

You assumed I.drive a t3. I don't! I used to but now have a tdi karmann Missouri.

Side roads are all well and good but if you have distance to travel in a set time the autoroutes are spot on

We went to Brittany a few years ago, and one night we ended up on a little campsite where we had our own field! OK, it was about 30 yards by 20, but it was ours for the night. Somewhere near the big circle of standing stones at Carnac I think. Never had a problem in 5 years visiting that area, but then we never stopped on an Aire at a motorway. A little common sense goes a long way.

oorwullie wrote:


each to his own, but i prefer totally obscure spots well off the beaten track. the well lit full of rich tourists park ups are the main target for the thievin' bastids cos people feel secure in their lemminglike crowd..........

really? its gotta be safer to stop in the large well lit service stations with many other vans ( remember the old adage safety in numbers ) than alone somewhere in the unknown.

as you say each to their own but i know where i would rather overnight en route..........

lloydy wrote:doesn't sound good, we are hoping to not lay eye on one motorway on our journey through France

We had that fantasy for the first half of our holiday two years ago. Then I decided I'd like to do something else other than driving!

Having used the tolls for years we thought it would be great to use the back roads and see some of the countryside. It was great but as said before - you don't get Anywhere quick!

I've heard several people with a lot of French travelling experience say that it's best to use the tolls until you get past Reims - just because the roads before that are really slow. Now it seems they aren't safe either.

Ringo