# How safe are Aires



## 90473 (May 1, 2005)

I think this subject could be 'aired' a little more. I have been holidaying in France for over twenty five years and, yes, I am well aware that there are high crime figures and I know that there was an appalling series of organised attacks on holidaymakers using the autoroute aires in the mid to late '80s................but, is it justified to say,

quote peejay "Don't use aires on autoroutes, this is where the majority of m/home theft/crimes are committed on the continent."

Sorry peejay, it's not a personal attack or anything and the quote shouldn't be taken out of context with the rest of your very sound advice. 

My own personal experiences of the autoroute system are one of resigned necessity in that I generally leave the south or southwest of the country late in the evening of the day before I'm due to go home and I then prefer to travel overnight. This means stopping at times for short rest periods and even having a quick power nap in the car, caravan (motorcycle in my :twisted: wilder days), and now hopefully our first m/home. I have always preferred to do this in the aires (along with tens of thousands of other travellers) due to the safety in numbers argument.

I just feel that it is a very direct point of view and there are many members of this forum who quite possibly haven't had the experience of travelling abroad and may be left in some trepidation regarding the use of various facilities. Again, peejay, I have the highest regard for your advice on other posts and if the statistical evidence provides proof of your claim regarding the aires then I most humbly apologise. :wink:


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## 88930 (May 10, 2005)

aires are safe if you keep off the motorway areas, we used them for most of the time last august down the west side of france nearly into spain ,
 dave


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## nukeadmin (Oct 10, 2003)

Very interesting subject Dave, I have added a poll to this topic so people may vote as to whether they have experienced any crime on Aires ?


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Hi there keng,

First, an apology, perhaps I was a little hasty in my statement ' dont use aires on autoroutes' what i should probably have said is 'in my personal opinion i would advise against the use of aires on autoroutes' however i stand by my comment that i think the majority of m/home theft/crimes are comitted on autoroute aires although i have no statistical proof of this matter. An autoroute is the obvious haunt of the casual and organised thief, high volumes of traffic travelling to/from destinations is where i'd go if i wanted to commit these crimes. The last thing i want to do is put people off using aires (please read my article listed under guides) quite the contrary i'm trying to encourage it. I personally just dont think it advisable to park overnight on autoroute aires.

pete

[/u]


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

I'll go along with peejay, the Village Catalan and those near the Spanish boarder have a particularly bad reputation as do aires in Spain.

I personally dislike overnighting on autoroute aires they are far too noisy with the coming and goings and frankly I want a nights sleep ready for the next days journey. Perhaps I am a light sleeper because although I have not experienced crime, on a couple of occasions, I have been disturbed by prowlers, once was at the Village Catalan. 

peedee


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## dodger148 (May 9, 2005)

Gill should be back soon, she has loads of info etc on Aires and wiill be able to give valuable advice


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## Boff (May 10, 2005)

Having had an attempted burglary on my motorhome last year I keep a constant eye on reports about motorhome-related crimes. According to the incidents _reported_ in the forums I visit (mostly German) there are some very clear trends:

About 95% of all reported m/h nightly burglaries have happened on motorway aires. Out of them more than 60% in France, and of the French incidents most of them happened in the area around Lyon. Maybe even on the same aire.

Incidents reported from official motorhome aires off the motorways usually were more nuisances than crimes. Things like prowlers knocking on doors, nightly scooter races etc.

I would not count too much on safety-by-numbers. In the reported cases usually all neighbouring motorhomes (except maybe those heavily secured and/or guarded by giant dogs) had been raided as well. Nor does the light or the presence of the fuel station staff normally provide any protection.

Besides that there are other reasons (noise, exhaust and fuel fumes) which have brought us to the decision *never* to stay overnight on any motorway aire. Regardless of the country. In fact, especially in the Lyon area I would avoid autoroute aires even at daylight.

Best Regards,
Gerhard


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Dave (nukeadmin) wrote;



> Very interesting subject Dave, I have added a poll to this topic so people may vote as to whether they have experienced any crime on Aires ?


Dave, i think the poll may be slightly misleading, The issue here is whether its safe to stop overnight on autoroute aires, not aires in general.
Maybe worth changing it to show this?

pete.


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## nukeadmin (Oct 10, 2003)

> Maybe worth changing it to show this?


Done


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## Motorhomersimpson (May 9, 2005)

OK having followed this thread for a while and giving this a lot of thought I have decided to relay this story to you, as I think it has some bearing on the matter of Aires on auto routes.
Last year my brother and his family who have been, for the last 4 years travelling to Austria for there holidays, became victim to theft at one of these Aires.
Normally they do not use them, unfortunately due to an earlier accident in Germany they were left with no choice.
Having parked up they went to bed, only to wake up the next morning to find that they had been robbed during the night, my brother who is by nature a very light sleeper and always rises about 7am had slept on until 9.30am, so had all the members of his family.
When the police arrived they suggested that the low-life thieving scum had probably used gas to make sure they were not disturbed, this would seem to be backed up by the fact that all occupants had severe headaches that morning.
He has since been back to Austria travelling through France but under no circumstances will he ever stop at one of the Aires on the autoroutes again.

Personally I think the info regarding these particular Aires given by peejay is sound advice and as such if I travel to France in the future I will certainly take his advice and my brothers and avoid these Aires.

Homer
(Member of the peejay appreciation society)
:wink:


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Thanks for that homer,

just need the wife to join!  

pete.


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## bar (Aug 6, 2005)

*how safe are aires*

Interesting subject, we have been using Aires ( but mainly non motorway) for about 10 years and have heard all the horror stories. But these robberies can occur at Supermarket and filling station pakring. last year in Turin whilst my wife was paying in the office for diesel I was in the van reading the map, noticed a well dressed chap standing in front of van studying our number plate. He had appeared from back of the van so I got out he ran to a car and raced off at speed with his 2 companions. He had a folding knife in his hand with which he had punctured our rear tyre ( £120). The idea is that when you rejoin the motorway/dualcarriageway/one way system, you can't reverse back to the filling station for assistance and these guys come round the ring road system, stop to offer help, then rob you. 
Slight deviation from the main subject of safety at Aires.
When we stop at a place where we do not feel totally secure we place a portable 
movement detector alarm ( siren and/or light) near the door step which is where our ventilation grill is ( thus hopefully thwarting the gas using thieves) and deterring casual prowlers.


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## 89210 (May 16, 2005)

Hi, whilst in an autoroute aire last year near Marsailles we had a gendarme knock on our door and tell us it was not safe to sleep overnight
and if we were going to to take all our paperwork to bed with us. We moved to under a lamp near the shop, chained our doors and had an undisturbed night. In my personal opinion if you use the unlight-wooded aires on the autoroute you are asking for trouble. A couple of times we've been in that type as evening approached and beaten-up old cars have pulled-in with young me in them who have parked away from us but facing us and have then put coats up on their rearview mirror so their faces were hidden. We believe we were being (checked-out). We've never stayed in an aire away from the motorway but intend to this year. We think that with sensible security precautions we'll be ok.


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Aires*

Hi

Yes, in agreement with the above.

I would sleep at service areas - the ones with a petrol station, cafe etc etc but not at the French types with just a see-saw and a loo!

Saying that, with (after passports are issued) 2 large dogs in the van, the burglars may be more afraid than me!

Rapide561


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## Pusser (May 9, 2005)

I and wifey have personally witnessed one robbery on an aire down to the South of France on the main drag in a very large service station and as the facilities were actually on the bridge over the motorway, the robbers knew well in advance of the owners return using a scout. Similar thing in a Spanish Aires in Catalunya again on the main drag. I did manage to foil the first one by driving at them with my head lights on full beam andhonking a rather pathetic horn which I think scared the sh*t out of them. As it also scared the sh*t of me too, I left at a rate of knots.

We also had a situation where an old Renault car kept driving ahead of us and breaking right in front of us I think with the idea of us hitting him up the rear so we would stop. That was coming into Rheims from the South.

We have also had a situation mid France on RN road in a car when trying to overtake a lorry, he kept on deliberately pulling out to force us off the other side of the road. When I eventually passed after several attempts the driver and his mates were laughing their socks off.

Where did the poll go?


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## 96088 (Aug 22, 2005)

What poll?

I will continue to overnight on motorway aires when required although not in the extreme south.

My only personal experience of crime in France was before my motorhoming days. Supermarket car park just outside Bandol, came out to find one of the back doors of my car had been forced and half the contents of the boot had been removed via the rear seats.

Contents included

Daughter's passport
Daughter's CD collection
Daughters camera full with pictures from the Alps
Our small tent that we had already used twice on motorway aires (the ones with a seesaw and a loo).
Various items of unwashed clothes.

I remember walking in to the supermarket and seeing this 40 year old standing on the corner looking suspicious but never gave it another thought. He was the lookout.

Spent the afternoon in Bandol police station doing the paperwork

Spent the next 4 days watching out for that scumbag.

Needless to say I dont avoid supermarket car parks, however we are a lot more vigilant and make sure we park in full view of the front door if possible.


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## BERTHA (May 21, 2005)

After reading many, many posts about Aires the one thing that is important to note is that there has been no or very few reported attacks on MH owners.

Not that this is any real consolation but the should or should not argument would be quite different if, like in parts of America, robbers frequent rest areas and attack people and use their guns if provoked.


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