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Driving In France

NJSS said:
Here's my list of items to carry, for Europe generally:-

  • Spare bulb & fuse kit
  • 2 breathalysers - There is no penalty in France for not carrying a breathalyser but the law still requires you to carry one!
  • UK (NOT GB) plate/sticker - Letters should be a minimum of 80mm high and a stroke thickness of 10 mm
  • Headlamp beam deflectors/converters/adapters
  • 1 high visibility vest per person kept within reach of the seated occupant
  • 1 warning triangle
  • 600g dry powder fire extinguisher
  • First aid kit
NOTE: Driving in Spain or some other European countries Two warning triangles are required.

NJSS
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The last time we drove in France was 2016 to visit my mum in La Rochellle.

We didn’t take any of those items. 😳😳
 
Ah, alcohol.... Good story from lunch today. Next table: two couples knocked back a kir apiece (white wine and creme de cassis) before putting away two bottles of wine. All quite normal for France. No-one doing the designated driver thing.

During the lunch one of the four was happily vaping. As you do. At the end of the lunch he reinserted the tubes from his Oxygen tank into his nose.

And then they all drove off in two separate cars.

This is the country where its routine to drink wine with lunch in the motorway service areas, as well as during any routine lunch with colleagues.

The French are not the same. After lunch and after work driving can be .... more spirited than in the UK.

,
 
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Darrell said:
The last time we drove in France was 2016 to visit my mum in La Rochellle.

We didn’t take any of those items. 😳😳
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I've never taken breathalysers or a dry powder fire extinguisher, and seldom taken a spare bulb kit - because I had one - but again I've never heard of anyone being stopped or fined for not having one.

On the other hand, I don't look like I come from North Africa, or the Middle East. Unkind comment, I know, but you'll see French police roadside checks disproportionately focussing on Muslims.
 
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MikeInWimbledon said:
I've never taken breathalysers or a dry powder fire extinguisher, and seldom taken a spare bulb kit - because I had one - but again I've never heard of anyone being stopped or fined for not having one.

On the other hand, I don't look like I come from North Africa, or the Middle East. Unkind comment, I know, but French police roadside checks do seem to disproportionately focus on Muslims in previous years, after the attacks in Nice and Paris.
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When we went we were in a S Type Jaaag in Jewish Racing Gold. We couldn’t have looked more normal if we tried.

Wifey just reminded me that we had a warning triangle and 3 Skanska hi-viz tops that I pinched from work the day before.
 
BTB 500 said:
I assume cars with LED lights all round are exempt from this requirement?!
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Quite. As usual French bureaucracy is a little out of date with the new tech.

Fortunately these virtue signalling laws aren’t implemented.
 
BTB 500 said:
I assume cars with LED lights all round are exempt from this requirement?!
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I carry spare bulbs anyway even if the car has LEDs, in case I ever needed to show I had them, but of course they’d be useless if needing to replace an LED!
 
MikeInWimbledon said:
Sorry but it's not that demanding or difficult, at all.

I'm in PACA now and checked it all before coming out.

You will need Crit Air if you drive in Paris - but you'll also need your sanity tested. Why bother? It's not as if you can park.

ZPA only needs the Crit Air certificate at times of high pollution which are notified by the Prefet. At the moment, none are applicable.

I didn't need a Crit Air for my two month stay, and most British tourists won't need it for the places they're going to, even if pollution is high. (You don't see many Brits in Marseille) Brits tend to herd around the coast or in the rural areas like the Dordogne, Loire, Versaille etc. - none of which have these rare occasional pollution issues.

I've spent about 30 months all over France over the last 7 years and only once "could" I have needed a Crit Air - for Annecy - but I wouldn't have actually needed it because it wasn't any kind of high pollution time.

Also, as mentioned, if you skirt Paris (A86 not Peripherique) or Lyon, as I did, you don't need the Crit Air certificate at all.

Here's a clip from the RAC, then the original French website for your schoolgirl French, plus the weblink

Crit'Air clean air stickers - need to know for driving in France | RAC Drive
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You say why bother with a CritAir sticker, but given the French can be particularly 'militant' when it comes to fining the English is it really worth the risk for £5?? I've had the relevant sticker's in my cars since 2017, I have been in and around Annecy (amongst other places in some of those zones) quite a few times since then and would rather have a sticker if stopped than not.
 
NJSS said:
Here's my list of items to carry, for Europe generally:-

  • Spare bulb & fuse kit
  • 2 breathalysers - There is no penalty in France for not carrying a breathalyser but the law still requires you to carry one!
  • UK (NOT GB) plate/sticker - Letters should be a minimum of 80mm high and a stroke thickness of 10 mm
  • Headlamp beam deflectors/converters/adapters
  • 1 high visibility vest per person kept within reach of the seated occupant
  • 1 warning triangle
  • 600g dry powder fire extinguisher
  • First aid kit
NOTE: Driving in Spain or some other European countries Two warning triangles are required.

NJSS
Click to expand...
This list always makes me laugh - really needs updating so people don't waste money unnecessarily. There are only 2 things on that list that I would deem super important and those are the high-vis and the triangle in case you break down, because you do stand some chance of seeing the police if that happens. Otherwise, the rest is a total waste of time and money.
 
sgregory124 said:
You say why bother with a CritAir sticker, but given the French can be particularly 'militant' when it comes to fining the English is it really worth the risk for £5?? I've had the relevant sticker's in my cars since 2017, I have been in and around Annecy (amongst other places in some of those zones) quite a few times since then and would rather have a sticker if stopped than not.
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Fair point. I'm just pointing out that those emission zones aren't as stringent as was being claimed, given that the ZPA only apply a few days a year.

By all means get a Crit Air, but don't expect to actually need it, or to be fined for not having it. You would need to be stopped on the road, in the town to receive the fine. French police don't have a crit air database for non-crit air foreign cars that would enable them to post a fine to you.

Oh, and be sure to order from the French government direct, not from one of the many dodgy websites overcharging for ordering it for you. (See stories above)
 
MikeInWimbledon said:
Fair point. I'm just pointing out that those emission zones aren't as stringent as was being claimed, given that the ZPA only apply a few days a year.

By all means get a Crit Air, but don't expect to actually need it, or to be fined for not having it. You would need to be stopped on the road, in the town to receive the fine. French police don't have a crit air database for non-crit air foreign cars that would enable them to post a fine to you.

Oh, and be sure to order from the French government direct, not from one of the many dodgy websites overcharging for ordering it for you. (See stories above)
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They have no database because they don't need one - ALL cars must have one, including electric cars (which have a zero label).
 
tode said:
They have no database because they don't need one - ALL cars must have one, including electric cars (which have a zero label).
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Exactly, so, as I said, fines can't be posted to you as a result of ANPR.

To be precise, all cars do NOT have to have a Crit Air sticker. Most tourist cars do NOT have a sticker.

Cars need a sticker only if they are in the ZPE areas, or if they choose to drive into one of the ZPA areas on a high pollution day.

(They can't even post ANPR speeding fines to the UK - for different reasons)

You would have to be stopped by the police for some reason.

Have I ever been stopped by French police? Not in 30 months of living in France over the last seven years, nor at any time visiting France over the last five decades.



.
 
sgregory124 said:
You say why bother with a CritAir sticker, but given the French can be particularly 'militant' when it comes to fining the English is it really worth the risk for £5?? I've had the relevant sticker's in my cars since 2017, I have been in and around Annecy (amongst other places in some of those zones) quite a few times since then and would rather have a sticker if stopped than not.
Click to expand...

Germany started with emission zones back in 2008 (12 cities back then ... LOTS more now). A sticker was only 6 euros so we've always displayed one, just in case. Did have to get a new one once after a windscreen replacement - as mentioned they can't be removed intact.

They don't actively look for cars without them but they're checked on speed camera photos, if you get a parking ticket, or if you get pulled over for any reason. I'd guess France will be similar.
 
BTB 500 said:
They don't actively look for cars without them but they're checked on speed camera photos, if you get a parking ticket, or if you get pulled over for any reason. I'd guess France will be similar.
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Yup.

A few things about driving in France:
  1. Over the last decade or so they have gone bonkers on lowering speed limits and speed enforcement. The tolerance is low (much tighter than the 10% + 2mph UK guideline) and fines heavy. Egregious cases can and do result in on-the-spot confiscation of your driving licence meaning you are stranded
  2. Under no circumstances have a radar or lidar detector in the vehicle. The Gendarmes get very angry if they find one and it will be confiscated
  3. Beware the Priorité à Droite rule that can catch out Brit's who are used to having priority over joining traffic. The archetypal slow moving 2CV really will just pull out of a turning on the right in front of you
  4. Make sure you have your documents with you (Driving Licence, Insurance Certificate, and original V5C). This is not optional
While the speed limit lowering and enforcement regime have taken a bit of the gloss off driving there, it's still a generally pleasant experience so long as you keep out of the obvious big city madness.
 
I’m always of the opinion that if your car has everything it should have with it/on it and the tyres, lights etc are all good . Then if you are stopped it gets the conversation going with the Police going in the right direction from the off .
I’ve been stopped twice in the last decade of holidaying over there , both as routines checks when the car was going slowly in towns . The police have been polite and there were no issues , moved on in a few minutes.
 
NJSS said:
Here's my list of items to carry, for Europe generally:-

  • Spare bulb & fuse kit
  • 2 breathalysers - There is no penalty in France for not carrying a breathalyser but the law still requires you to carry one!
  • UK (NOT GB) plate/sticker - Letters should be a minimum of 80mm high and a stroke thickness of 10 mm
  • Headlamp beam deflectors/converters/adapters
  • 1 high visibility vest per person kept within reach of the seated occupant
  • 1 warning triangle
  • 600g dry powder fire extinguisher
  • First aid kit
NOTE: Driving in Spain or some other European countries Two warning triangles are required.

NJSS
Click to expand...

And in France no type of device that can detect/block radar or even tell you where fixed speed cameras are , if you have one that sticks to the windscreen remove it and put it in the boot . If it is on your phone or built into your car ? No Idea .
 
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