Driving in France

[Simon Jones]

Here is the AA's list of what you need where. You only need the jacket in Spain, Austria and Italy.

Regards

Simon

EDIT: and Portugal

[ypres1418]

Thanks Steve,

have downloaded the paper for easy access and will let my friend know for the end of the month when we go over,

will also tell another friend who maybe going to Italy again this year, just in case he doesn't know already,

Mandy

[derwisj]

Hm,

i have such a jacket, but i think it is going to give me trouble when i use it; on it is "politie" (police). Dont think the police would be happy seeing me wearing it.

Oh, and BTW, it is mine; I was with the police for 15 years.

pascal

[chrislock]

Mine says, AVIAN CONTROL

FALCONER

That should get a few questions in the car park!

[leigh]

On my recent trip to france I seem to remember reading in the port gumph that it was a necesity to have a high vis vest in the car whilst driving but I cant find anything on the web to support this. A fire extiguisher and first aid kit I think were suggested as good practice.

I seem to remember it also intimating you should have one for each passenger but that may have been my brain not working correctly (spain possibly?).

Leigh

[ianw]

Am I being paranoid in fearing police purges in France against UK drivers when Tony and Jacques fall out over the CAP and the UK rebate ? Will the gendarmerie be tempted to try to unilaterally recover the rebate in the form of spot fines for no extinguisher, possession of a cheese sandwich, no spare spectacles, out of date first aid kit, wrongly fitted beam deflectors, photocopied documents etc, etc ?

Quite difficult to be 100% squeaky clean over there.

[Guest]

Quite difficult to be 100% squeaky clean over there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If you want the French to obey 100% of the laws 100% of the time here, then you have to do the same there.

Either this is a new legal requirement and nobody has come up with anything definitive, or it is a criminal scam by some crooks in a French car park. Does anyone really know?

[leigh]

Got this doc from the AA site. I cant vouch for its accuracy or up to dateness but the data is dated 2005.

AA web for compulsory equipment.

It suggests that reflective jackets are only required in Austria, Spain, Portugal and Italy. Also that in Austria and Portugal the police are not autorised to collect the fines themselves.

I drive in France now and then so it would be nice to have a difinitive answer on this stuff.

L.

[healdav]

I drive in France all the time, so I stuck one in my car and in my wife's just in case.

French police are authorised to collect fines on the spot and will.

In fact, if they think you are going very, very much too fast on a motorway they will not only hand out a hefty fine but confiscate your car keys as well. Then you have to get a taxi to come on to the motorway to pick you up.

This actually happened to a French colleague.

In addition, in the peak times - July and August they often have a court set up on serrvice stations and simply haul dangerous drivers in front of it and the case is judged and settled in ten minutes.

On the bright side they will take fines by credit card or bank cards (and yes, they do have readers in their cars).

I've just discovered that I ought to have a spare pair of glasses in the car as well.

In Belgium if you are stopped for speeding and contest what the police say they will take away your car and put it in a private pound. After the case has been heard in court they will give you the keys, but you then have to pay the pound! - and of course you have to do without the car for months.

It does pay to obey the law.

[Mark]

In Spain it is a legal requirement to wear a hi vis jacket should you leave the car whilst parked on the hard shoulder of the motorway or other main road. It is not a legal requirement to carry one, though if you don't and you break down and leave the car, you run the risk of an on the spot fine.

Hire car companies are gradually including hi vis jackets in their cars though should you hire a car that doesn't have a hi vis jacket and you need to use it but can't and you get fined, the hire company should refund the cost of the fine.

[Guest]

But it is France we are interested in. Can anyone actually confirm the legal position?

I know what the AA says, but they may simply be slow to update.

[ianw]

If you want the French to obey 100% of the laws 100% of the time here, then you have to do the same there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, but the Europeans do seem to have such a raft of ancillary compulsory requirements that we (for good or ill) do not have. Probably a good case for European harmonisation.

I also do feel there is a danger of UK motorists being preyed on in Northern France. Whoops my paranoia is showing.

[Guest]

I also do feel there is a danger of UK motorists being preyed on in Northern France. Whoops my paranoia is showing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Brits do get preyed on when they overload their cars, drive too fast, drive on the wrong side of the road, etc.

If I was a French cop, I would prey on Brits for these things too.

[ianw]

Quite agree that people of all nationalities might well merit a fine for the practices you describe. However, I fear that the British may be singled out unfairly for what might be described as minor technical infringements.

However, it would seem you have a great love for the French gendarme ( a nice uniform and big weapon can be quite appealing I suppose) and support them should they declare open season on British motorists. A bit uncharitable IMHO.

[7:29am]

I have just discovered that as from 1 May 2005 every vehicle being driven in France has to have a fluorescent vest IN THE CAR. If it is in the boot this is unacceptable.

The vest is for use in case of breakdowns and must be put on before you get out of the car.

The penalty for not having a vest in the car is 280 euros fine!!!!!

The Gendarmerie turned up at a hypermarket on the border near here last weekend and simply stopped every car leaving the car park. They must have collected enough cash to pay the national debt.

I had no idea about his until a colleague sent me a mail about it yesterday. Publicity has been zero as far as I know.

You have been warned. Apparently you now need the same in Italy and Germany although once again the publicity has been zero.

We'll soon need a trailer to carry all the stuff that is obligatory.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Its the same all over the EU now, where i live in Spain if the cops stop you and tell you to get out of the car.. make sure you put your vest on (and not just any vest) or they will stick a fine on you!! ole

[Max]

However, it would seem you have a great love for the French gendarme ( a nice uniform and big weapon can be quite appealing I suppose) and support them should they declare open season on British motorists.  A bit uncharitable IMHO.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have been driving in and around Paris for the last 6 months with British plates and have not had a second glance off of the local cops.

You have absolutely no evidence that the French police are "targeting" anyone, least of all British motorists. If you break the law the police will have you, if you don't they won't. Speeding and failing to adhere to local laws are not "technical" breaches of anything, they are actual breaches.....to suggest otherwise is unreasonable IMHO.

Andy

[Dragon]

I’m finding it difficult to see what the fuss is about. There has always been a conspicuity jacket in my car (as in IN my car). And a proper first aid kit. And spare glasses (I have spare glasses all over the place). And spare light bulbs (and I know how to change them, and the fuses too). And a torch. Etc. It doesn’t take up much space. Once they’re in, they’re in and can be forgotten about. It’s not hard.

It’s nothing to do with being scared of the gendarmes, it’s to do with common sense (even in the UK). Partly because it’s nice not to have to drive round the Vosges mountains searching for a garage to buy bulbs, or an optician in the middle of the Black Forest, partly because when I go out alone in the car I think a female who isn’t prepared is vulnerable.

I keep all the documents required for continental motoring and travel in a single folder so that whenever the urge to travel strikes, I just grab the folder and pop it in my bag. Simple. I’ve been stopped once by a gendarme in thousands and thousands of mainland European kilometres over fifteen years. It was simply part of a check on post-lunch drinking (and I hadn’t been) and he was very courteous, as was I. He checked the relevant documents and all was well.

I don’t see why so much has to be presented in a them vs us frame. Capricious Persecuting Foreign Police vs Nice British Driver. Why shouldn’t illegal or chaotic and dangerous driving practices attract police attention?

The remark about women falling for a uniform is rather unreconstructed for 2005.

Gwyn

[spike10764]

Surely the Gendarmes have better things to do than picking on poor motorists, merely as easy game for fines.

I mean you don't get that happening in Britain, do you ?

Taking a high vis jacket on hols in the car this year- seems a sensible idea, especially if you have car trouble on quiet country roads at night.

[ianw]

My comments were to a degree prompted by 2 very recent tales of apparently unfair treatment meeted out to acquaintances in France - one an ex-policeman . I appreciate that the sample is small and therefore perhaps anecdotal in nature, but I will certainly be very careful with my motoring when over there in July.

The ex-policeman is particularly furious at his treatment and is seeking to have his spot fine refunded.

Gwyn/Angie - apologies for my tongue in cheek comment about the attractions of a police uniform. I was reacting inappropriately to Angie's somewhat "hang 'em and flog 'em" attitude to poor sad British drivers. I was forgetting that any such misplaced levity quite properly cannot be countenanced nowadays. I always thought I was reasonably well "constructed" but I suppose lapses like these must indicate that I am deluding myself.

Wishing all Happy Driving wherever you do it this summer. Let's be careful out there.

[Mark]

But it is France we are interested in.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So sorry - thought it might be useful information for those planning a holiday to Spain this summer. Didn't realise that forum users only went to France

[healdav]

I have to admit I very nearly thumped a couple of British men (well int their 50s) who parked their car at the side of the road in a small town near where I have my apartment, wandered off leaving the road half blocked (and its a busy road and quite narrow).

When they came back there was a parking ticket on it. One just laughed, screwed it up and said, 'that's the first one; if those idiots think I'm ever going to pay.....'

I'm all for harrassing people like that.

Incidentally, it was across the road from a car park!

[Max]

When they came back there was a parking ticket on it. One just laughed, screwed it up and said, 'that's the first one; if those idiots think I'm ever going to pay.....'

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I would like to be a fly on the wall when, at a later date and not having paid the parking fine, they are pulled over by the gendarme. The book will be thorwn at them from a great distance.

[Arthur J]

Attached is taken from the advice section Canvas Holidays web page http://www.canvas.co.uk/general-info/general-info.asp

It would appear AA web page is not up to date!

Driving in France, Germany, Italy & Spain – please note that in France, Germany, Spain and Italy, the law requires you to carry a high visibility jacket or waistcoat in your car at all times. These must be worn if leaving a vehicle on the carriageway of a motorway or non-urban highway, anytime, day or night.

[healdav]

I would agree that harmonisation is necessary on this and other things - you try living on the frontier of four countries and then having to remember differing speed limits, parking mores, driving mores, give way to the right, left, don't stop at an orange light, do stop at an orange light, give way to cyclists, run cyclists down, police cars are green or blue or something, and the name varies.

Could someone write to the Commission and suggest harmonising it all (the speed limit in towns is harmonised, but the British never noticed as it is 50 kph = 30 mph).

Don't hold your breath though, a directive can easily take 5 years or so to get through; and that's when no one objects to it.

[leigh]

I agree that you should carry a certain things in your car just for safety sake, it makes sense. I went to france just 2 weeks ago with the things always in my car; my spare bulbs, headlamp deflectors (which I leave on all the time) warning triangle and first aid kit. I didn't have a vest though. I think it is not sensible to go around carring all equipment required for all countries though.

Seeing as you can only get your car to france via a tunnel or a ferry then the ferry and tunnel websites should really have up to date information for people. They should also take more responsibility to inform you what you will need prior to leaving and not just tell you what the regulations are when you arrive at the ferry terminal and must purchase said items from them. I still dont have a high vis vest.

I also used to live in Canterbury where there was many an occasion of law flouting by continental drivers who were safe in the knowledge that any parking tikets etc would not be chased up by the Kent police.

Also.. re the french police targeting UK drivers. They like any police force will target any driver. it is just that in the northern coastal region of france there is a higher concentration of UK cars and thus a greater number wil be stopped. Added to that lots wil be overloaded with booze or gunning it up the motorway to catch a ferry. I think it will be less a fact of 'targeting' more a case of more offenders.

L.