Quote:
Originally Posted by laundryman
Took delivery of a Liber-t tag today & livened it up.
Went for a trawl about user problems and came up with this advice. Hope it helps:
I received my new shape mini-tag from Sanef last Wednesday. First opportunity to use it on Friday.
Not a promising start. Got to the first peage station from Calais, drove to the reserved "t" lane - no joy. Detached it from windscreen mount, tried waving it. Didn't work. Lots of scoffing French drivers making rude remarks as I reversed out ignominiously. Took a manual ticket, handed it in at the pay station at Junction 25 on the A16. However, the device then emitted an ear-splitting beep, almost as if it had decided to come to life. Had a chat with the pay station operator (it was a quiet day). His friendly advice is below.
After that, it was plain sailing all the way. Driving down towards La Rochelle on Saturday, I had a French driver actually jump out of his car and try to wave me away from the "t" lane on my approach. When the thing beeped and the gate opened, he was a little dumbfounded. An excellent result. The best entertainment is watching for the expressions of the locals expecting the idiot Brit driver to get trapped...and then the look of surprise when I drive away. However, not so good is watching tagless fellow Brits follow you into the lane and then get trapped...
Useful advice from the ticket booth guy:
1. Do not try to wave the tag around. It has to be in a fixed position. The old tags could be waved, but apparently the new mini-tags are more uni-directional. They will also not work if left on the dashboard.
2. Left side of the windscreen directly behind the rear-view mirror is the best place for mounting. If your car has the dotted pattern indicating the clear, wire-free area, place the mount there.
3. The mount can be detached and moved once it has been put in place. A flathead screwdriver will help to prise it away from the windscreen, but be careful.
Still investigating about the infra-red reflective coating on the glass. Will report back when I find anything
A Bonne Journey
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Didn't see your reply until I had got back from my journey ...
My experience is that it worked 1st time 90% of the time and on the two occasions it didn't ( incidentally at the same Peage albeit travelling outbound then a week later inbound ) as soon as I detached it from the mount it worked.
Like you I mounted it at the top of the windscreen behind the passenger visor on the basis that if you drive a left hand drive car that would be the side it would normally go, and, I don't have to look at it ! There is also some dotted windscreen all along the top edge ...
Considering that 5 mins delay when travelling at 80mph means that by using the tag you are 6.66 miles further up the road than someone who has to stop and queue. For them to make up such a distance they would not only be exceeding the speed limit but also using significantly more fuel.
Can't say I had any foolish Brits try to follow me though a few 'locals' did wave their arms either in polite warning or with aggression expecting us to get stranded at the barrier with other cars queued up behind before we could escape. Obviously their concerns were unfounded.
To conclude, at the very top of the screen in front of the left front seat appears to be the best location, it saves significant time. The only downside is the initial setup cost and the fact that each toll is NOT discounted. Taking all this into account it is still in my opinion worth the cost.
Hope this helps anyone who might be considering getting a Liber-T tag.