French drivers with clean licences are taking points for others' speeding in return for cash.French driving licences work in a similar way to UK ones but in reverse, so drivers start with 12 points that are then taken off for offences including speeding. If a driver gets to zero points, they are banned for six months and must retake their test.To get round this, drivers will now pay someone else up to €1500 – around £675 – to take a point for them.Chief among those getting tickets are older drivers; the rate of offences for those over 65 rose by 38 per cent from 2003-5, when speed cameras became common on French roads.But with many already having loaded their grandparents' licences to the limit, now people are selling points on internet auction site eBay.Similar practices go on in the UK. Earlier this month a 77-year-old British man was jailed after being caught taking the blame for his son's speeding. Up to half a million Britons are believed to take the blame for others' speeding.
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