New French driving laws.

[Defender110]

I know the sat nav thing has been mentioned before but is everyone aware of the new breathalyser law


Navigation systems that warn of the location of speed camera's have been made illegal. This includes having one in the car even if it is not in use!


From July 1st 2012 it is mandatory to carry a minimum of one disposable single user breathalyser kit.

[Philip Chidlow]

It's important to note the breath testers (I understood two needed to be carried?) need to carry the NF symbol. Nothing else will do. Just look on Amazon or check out Halfords...

[Birotor]

And when you do get yours note if they are like mine there is an Expiry Date!

[Vanny]

they have also snook in a change in the law on high vis jackets. You must have them in the CABIN, ie each passenger must be able to put them on without anyone getting out of the car (ie you can't have one in the car, and three in the boot).

I thought you had to have TWO breathalysers? Either the electronic reusable ones or the chemical ones. Its an €11 fine every time they stop you because you don't have French plates. You've got hand it to the French, they know how to shaft foreigners.

[mds141]

My mate was driving his truck through France a few years ago and a headlight bulb blew. So he replaced it with a spare from the spare bulb kit that is mandatory in most EU countries and carried on his way. 10 mins later the French rozzers pulled him for a routine check and asked to see his spare bulb kit ( you know what is coming next ), yup, they fined him €30 for not carrying a spare headlight bulb, despite plenty of remonstrating on my friends part.

[Dollywobbler]

Laws of utter stupidity, largely driven by funny handshakes. Of course it isn't a conflict of interests to have a chap from a breathalyser company helping make the decision!

You actually need THREE breathalysers. Like the bulb kit thing, if you decide to self-test yourself, you've used up one of the two you must legally carry and are now liable for a fine. It is entirely ridiculous.

[Defender110]

You actually need THREE breathalysers. Like the bulb kit thing, if you decide to self-test yourself, you've used up one of the two you must legally carry and are now liable for a fine. It is entirely ridiculous.

No, that's why the recommendation is 2, you only legally have to carry one 'in-date' breathaliser but if you do self test you are liable to afine for no longer carrying a useable one.

[citsncycles]

No worries for me using one - I don't drink!

[Philip Chidlow]

No worries for me using one - I don't drink!

Neither do I - well I haven't for 7 days and don't intend to until I go on holiday mid-August. But who knows? I might 'keep going'... Feeling fine....

[KevR]

No, that's why the recommendation is 2, you only legally have to carry one 'in-date' breathaliser but if you do self test you are liable to afine for no longer carrying a useable one.

Correct. The law says you have to have one, so you need two in case you use one and then drive.

My mate was driving his truck through France a few years ago and a headlight bulb blew. So he replaced it with a spare from the spare bulb kit that is mandatory in most EU countries and carried on his way. 10 mins later the French rozzers pulled him for a routine check and asked to see his spare bulb kit ( you know what is coming next ), yup, they fined him €30 for not carrying a spare headlight bulb, despite plenty of remonstrating on my friends part

Bent copper or he's bullshitting... It's not compulsory to carry a spare bulb kit in France. Not carrying one means that if you're stopped for a dead light and can't fix it, you might have to walk home, but not carrying one's not an offence in itself.

they have also snook in a change in the law on high vis jackets. You must have them in the CABIN, ie each passenger must be able to put them on without anyone getting out of the car (ie you can't have one in the car, and three in the boot).

Partly right - yes the jacket has to be within reach so it can be put on before getting out of the car, but tha's not a recent change - it's been that way since the law came in. And it's jacket not jackets. In France there's only a requirement for one of them (I think it's different in Spain).

Its an €11 fine every time they stop you because you don't have French plates. You've got hand it to the French, they know how to shaft foreigners.

If you lived here and saw just how many Brits drive around for years on UK plates with no tax or MoT and either invalid UK insurance (because they've lied about where they live) or probably invalid French insurance (because they should have registered their cars here within a month) without being stopped, hassled or even noticed, you might modify that statement! Mostly having foreign plates is like an invisibility cloak - M. le Plod can't be bothered trying to communicate with a monoglot Rosbif and dealing with foreign paperwork. Serious speeding offences excepted of course - lots of Brits get done every year half an hour after getting off the ferry on their way to Le Mans...

[Vanny]

And it's jacket not jackets. In France there's only a requirement for one of them (I think it's different in Spain)

My understanding was that while the law doesn't state you have to have one for each passenger, if you don't have one you can't get out of the car. But then there was another law stating that you MUST get out of the vehicle if it breaks down on the 'motorway', and thus you have to have one for each person?

[KevR]

And it's jacket not jackets. In France there's only a requirement for one of them (I think it's different in Spain)

My understanding was that while the law doesn't state you have to have one for each passenger, if you don't have one you can't get out of the car. But then there was another law stating that you MUST get out of the vehicle if it breaks down on the 'motorway', and thus you have to have one for each person?

Since you're not allowed on the hard shoulder of a French motorway at all, wearing a yellow jacket doesn't change that. The advice from driving schools etc is that everyone should get out via the side nearest the barriers and immediately get on the other side of the barriers - ie no longer a danger to anyone or to themselves. One person can wear the yellow jacket while fixing the puncture or whatever. By law you also have to put your reflective triangle a minimum 30m back from the immbolised car - you have to do that not by walking along the hard shoulder, but by walking behind the barrier. However the companies that run the autoroutes advise against using the triangle on autoroutes because the danger in placing them outweighed the advantage in that situation. When that was batted back to the minister of transport he said drivers should 'use their common sense'.

[Mike E (uk)]

the breathalyser law is completely stupid.

Some French law makers have lost the plot here.

If you have had a drink, you know you have. And the French limit is lower than ours, so what's the tester for?

If people are drink driving, they are doing so knowingly, and having a £3 tester in the boot is not going to make any difference at all.

I have done many 1000s of miles in Mainland Europe and never been stopped by les rozzers.


I have heard that the French president had an interest in the company that makes the testers.
perhaps we could retaliate in the Uk and introduce a similar law so the French have to buy our breathalysers, which would have to be different from theirs because ours will be calibrated in pints.

[Mike E (uk)]

the breathalyser law is completely stupid.

Some French law makers have lost the plot here.

If you have had a drink, you know you have. And the French limit is lower than ours, so what's the tester for?

If people are drink driving, they are doing so knowingly, and having a £3 tester in the boot is not going to make any difference at all.

I have done many 1000s of miles in Mainland Europe and never been stopped by les rozzers.


I have heard that the French president had an interest in the company that makes the testers.
perhaps we could retaliate in the Uk and introduce a similar law so the French have to buy our breathalysers, which would have to be different from theirs because ours will be calibrated in pints.

[Dollywobbler]

It seems that this 'law' is not being enforced until March 1, and the legislation might be rescinded anyway. Common sense?!