Bernard Tissot, a retiree from Jura, got a nasty surprise when he received a fine related to his old tractor. He would drive in the bus lane in Paris, in front of the Louvre, where his vehicle never passed. Behind this unusual situation, there is a new number plate theft.
Bernard Tissot did not expect this letter. At least that’s what we can say. Last Thursday, November 20, the sixty-year-old former mayor of Saint-Jean-d’Etreux (the village now united with L’Aubépin, Chazelles and Nanc-lès-Saint-Amour in the new commune of Trois-Châteaux), in Jura, went to get his mail like every day. In the mailbox, there was an official envelope with the “French Republic” logo and his name.
Curious, the retired national educationist opened… and found a very strange ticket. “It was a fine of 135 euros for a traffic violation” Bernard Tissot explains it to us. “For ‘unauthorized circulation in lanes intended for public transport’, in Paris, place du Carrousel, on November 5. I immediately thought it was a bad joke“. Why? Because the vehicle in question is none other than his International Harvester 533 tractor, 1977, and cannot go above 20 km/hour.
“He almost never set foot outside the villageargued Bernard Tissot.It was an old tractor that I bought from my uncle. I use it to go to the forest or the vineyard. And on November 5, at 19.30, he was there, in Saint-Jean, in my garage“.
I searched the Internet for where the Place du Carrousel is, right next to the Louvre. I imagine my tractor there, at night, at 7:30 p.m., rush hour. That made me laugh.
Because, surely you understand, it is definitely not the old Harvester that covers the 400 km distance that separates the Jura from the Place du Carrousel. “For that, it took him 20 hours to make the journey,” said Bernard Tissot with a smile. “And without windows, I would have been very cold.“The sixty year old man was indeed the victim of number plate theft.”I’ve read it in the newspaper. I was unlucky, people with bad intentions copied it. This time it fell on me“.
The former mayor must now take care of all administrative formalities to combat these violations. The less funny, more annoying side. “I have 45 days from the time the ticket is sent, which is November 13th, to say that it is not my vehicleexplained the retiree from the National Education Department.I filed a complaint for license plate theft online with the Paris police station. I await their response“.
This complaint was accompanied by a request for new registration documents, which are also still in process. “Once this was validated, I then had to order and install another number plate” explains Bernard Tissot. All this at his expense.”Even though the amount was not large, I told myself that we could have avoided this, if the service that gave me the ticket had just checked the surveillance cameras.he complained.
And again, I can complete all the formalities online. If they are very old, they will not be able to participate. I also think about the driver of the car whose license plate was stolen. For me, with a tractor, it’s easy to show that it’s not me. In some cases, it is more complicated.
The retiree is now waiting for answers to all his requests. And hope the situation will be resolved before Christmas. “Otherwise, the fine increases to 375 euros. The gift is expensivehe said jokingly, admitting he had received a number of messages since the situation was reported in the local and national press.
“I read the provoked comments on social networks” admit this 67 year old man. “Some are trying to be politically exploitative, but many are very funny. I was actually told with a laugh that it was I who robbed the Louvre, and that the jewels were hidden in my house.“.
As a reminder, more than 23,000 license plates are stolen every year according to the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is an offense to use fake number plates. Offenders risk up to seven years in prison, a fine of 30,000 euros and the removal of six points from their driver’s license.
In case of repeated violations, the judge may even decide to apply additional penalties: suspension of the driver’s license for up to three years, complete cancellation of the driver’s license (with a ban on taking it back for up to three years) and confiscation of the vehicle.
