Requirements for cars in France
 

Hi I would like a list of all the things that are legally required for driving in France please

As I understand it so far its:

A hi-vis jacket for EACH person,
A warning triangle.
Beam benders or gaffer/duct tape cutting out dazzle on RHD cars
2x Breathalyser

However I also read that you need spare bulbs as well, is this a LEGAL requirement to drive in France?

Are there any other legal requirements, please.

I'd like to have a list of all as we have had experiences of being pulled over in France soon after the border, (for speeding) and being fined in cash (only) ... also French cars had just overtaken me!! Oh yes the ONLY cars in the pull off were foreign plated cars.... there was a special van all prepared to take our dosh!

Welcome, tourists, to France! :eek:

Jon

Re: Requirements for cars in France
 

You need to have your driving licence; registration documents and insurance documents.
And by the sound of it - a lot of cash.;)

Re: Requirements for cars in France
 

Yep cash.... if you don't have it they will charge you to go to an ATM to get the cash....

However I was very polite, accepted I was speeding, and they gave me a reduced fine.. so can't fully complain.

Though it was annoying to see foreign only cars pulled over.... not the best welcome, after the Luxembourg border, and a suspicion also because cash was required...

Any addition to the list I started, please?

Jon

Re: Requirements for cars in France
 

In fact you only need one hi-viz vest per vehicle, and one breathalyser (though since you must always have an unused one, common sense dictates that you should keep two in the car in case you ever use one).

Spare bulbs are not a legal requirement, but you must have functioning lights. The catch is, that if you are stopped for having non-functioning lights, you could in theory be not allowed to drive on until your lights have been fixed. Hence the advisability of being in a position to change them on the spot. Or that's the theory - in fact of course, changing some bulbs is not a thing you can do by the roadside - and if all cars on French roads with faulty lights were immobilised, I think there would be more piled up in laybys than left circulating.

Details of what you have to have in your car are here:
http://vosdroits.service-public.fr/F19459.xhtml

Re: Requirements for cars in France
 

Thanks ET - all the info I need...

I was really annoyed when we had a Megane, changing the lightbulb meant taking off the bumper!

The garage charged an extra +/- 90Euros for taking off the bumper, the bulb was a fraction of that.

How stupid to have a design that doesnt allow simple changing of parts like this on the roadside!

Thanks again,
Jon

Re: Requirements for cars in France
 

Normal process when a fault exists that needs repairing straight away on a car is for the Gendarmes to keep your Carte Grise until the fault is fixed.

Re: Requirements for cars in France
 

So if you drive it you can be fined for not having your CG with you - good system :rofl:

Re: Requirements for cars in France
 

Thought B-test kit law had been postponed 'cos lack of supplies :confused:

Re: Requirements for cars in France
 

Yep, confusion reigns - general opinion seems to be starting the fines will be delayed and delayed and delayed and then the whole thing will be quietly dropped :fingerscrossed:

Re: Requirements for cars in France
 

bonjour,

I'm french, and I can help you about what you need in your car to drive in France :

1 hi-vis jacket per car which can be taken by the driver from his seat.
1 valid Breath test unused ( law is reported to 1st of march 2013)
1 triangle.

All these 3 objects must have the "CE" or "NF" label (NF means "Norme Française")

as writen by Euro Trash, you must be able to change a bulb on requirement by a Gendarme, a Policeman, a CRS or a Douanier. don't forget the screwdriver !

you also need a driving license with a photo, a certificate of registration and a valid inssurance card.

Note that if you drive a "red plate" car, the driver must be the "owner".
even his wife or her husband can't drive this car.

Re: Requirements for cars in France
 

Hardly surprising cash was demanded, as by definition, the driver of a foreign-registered car is unlikely to be living in France and thus may well scarper before paying the fine. And as regards the fact that in your case only foreign plates were stopped might suggest that either the French drivers speeding were caught on camera and will therefore get notification through the post, or that they were equipped with, now illegal, radar detection, or that, heaven forbid, there are more foreign drivers that go above the limit than there are French ones. In my limited experience, when overtaken by someone driving at well over the speed limit, it's more often than not Johnny foreigner at the wheel of a large German Big Bertha bombing towards the border. ;)

It would be a pity if anyone ran away with the idea that the French police are corrupt and will take bribes. They might not be very efficient, but corrupt they are not.
PB

Re: Requirements for cars in France
 

Here are the tolerances for fixed radar in France:

http://www.radars-auto.com/info-rada...nce-radars.php

Re: Requirements for cars in France
 

We have a few fixed ones around here but its the Mobile ones you have to watch out for. They have three or four unmarked non Gendarme plated cars with speed cameras built in the back. The give away is they always park in the same place.

Re: Requirements for cars in France
 

If by "red plate" car you mean a TT car, that's not correct.

Re: Requirements for cars in France
 

Not so, the old style paper UK driving licence, sans photo, is perfectly valid throughout the EU.

I would also dispute the ability to 'change bulb on requirement' can you point us to the passage in French law where that is written please. That is not what Euro Trash said anyway.

The retaining of a carte grise obviously only applies to French registered cars in which case a receipt will be given. They have no right to seize a registration document for a foreign registered car although in the most serious cases they can seize the whole vehicle.

I'm afraid the OP's experience of only foreign cars being pulled is a result of so many such drivers routinely taking the pi55 the second they hit the motorway thinking that they are immune, we've all seen them and been passed by them.