Breathalyser kits
 

Does anyone know where we can pick up the breathalyser kits that are now required in France? And if my memory serves me correctly doesn't each vehicle require two? We are travelling from Spain into France.

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

Due to production problems, they have put back the deadline date to about March 2013, I'm led to believe. Up till October this year, there were none available in France! They were/will be sold in Pharmacies.
It's possible to get them through Amazon UK, but they must have the logo NF on them.

Hope that helps

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

yes, you require 2, so that you have a spare after having to use one. Amazon do them in boxes of two.
Brits have been buying loads of these, but seem to remember they have a best before date so I should have taken shares in the company.

Like I carry all the hi-vis vests (1 per passenger) 2 triangles, spare light bulbs + a hazard beacon and wipers, these will have to go into my boot box.
Just can't see all the French having them in their cars so it will become a stick to beat the Brits with when travelling through their lovely country.

`

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

But it is only effective March 2013?

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

Strange, we picked ours up in Carrefours Puget (FR) in August.

Suzi

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

Ebay is by far the cheapest place. And with an expiry date of up to 3 years

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

as retired says it is a revised date.
IIRC there were plans for it to start around end April 2012 but that then got changed to July and then October, now March 2013.

nothing like having a good plan, just the French, on this one anyway, rushed it thru without considering the production time and the number of people who would be buying.
Perhaps there are more foreigners travelling to and thru their country than they realised - and they would all appear to want to comply with the law.
That makes a change surely
:rofl:

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

Legally you will have to carry one. If (like me) you would have no intention of ever using it, it's a bit pointless carrying 2. Mind you if they only come in packs of two........

Last summer there was a big fuss about this. We drove back to the UK through France in July, spent about a week in France (I'm a slow driver!) and the only place I saw any for sale was on the ferry from Calais to Dover.

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

think about it...........

you should have 2 so that when you use one you will still be legal (if you pass the test that is)

the biggest rush seems to be the Brits getting legal - they know they will get pulled and tested.
just can't see the French worrying about it.

ISTR they can be bought as singles but a double pack is cheaper than two singles......

`

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

I have thought about it thank you ...........I think you have misunderstood the use of these - you don't have to "pass the test" - the police aren't going to use them to test you. They are for you to use to check if you are ok to drive.

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

That is how i read it. if you never drink and drive no need to test your self with the first one so you only need one to show the police.

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

if you are that sozzled you don't know how much you have had to drink then why test yourself ?
and how accurate will they be when you have a police digital unit reading offered in court ?

France has a lower drink drive limit of 50mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood as against the 80mg of the UK.
These breathalysers are to be carried in all motor vehicles except mopeds, the fine for not having one is €11, not a mind bending sum but when weighed up against the number of foreigners transiting the country.....

Just don't drink and drive.!

http://www.frenchbreathalyzer.com/
The French Police are suggesting vehicles carry at least two, so that if one is used to check the driver, a second remains for inspection but the law requires either an NF Approved digital breathalyzer or one unused breathalyzer kit.

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

There is no change in the procedures for testing (and prosecuting) drivers in France. These cheap breathalysers are only for assisting drivers to decide whether or not they are fit to drive. I think it is a misguided idea which will encourage drivers to have a drink when they would be better not drinking at all.

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

I had no problems getting the 2 breathalysers in France, there is a grace period before the fines start, and I heard it was only 11 Euro as well...

As mentioned above you also need a hi-vis jacket for EACH person, and a warning triangle.

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

Is there any other legal requirement, please, except beam benders, hi-vis, breathalysers, and a triangle....

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!

Thanks - probably should ask on the French forum - but since we started here......

Welcome, tourists, to France! :eek:

Jon

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

Would be interesting to see the outcome of a case where the self-breathalyser kit was negative and a police kit was positive.
Would make the regulations completely redundant.

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

Amusing thought but the cheap d.i.y. breathalysers won't have any legal validity. Incidentally, would you risk your licence by relying on one of these cheapo breathalysers to tell you you are below the limit??

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

But the point is that they will be a legal requirement.

How can they not have any legal validity when people are forced to buy them?

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

I don't think so.

They may be a legal requirement to carry, but any checks done by the police will be the final decider.

Remember the blood alcohol level could be either rising or falling in the time between the two checks, so I imagine it's upto the driver to make due allowance for that fact after taking his/her own reading.

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

Oh, i agree entirely. The result from the kits will not be used to make the final decision.

However, I can see an outcry about this and future "European Court" claims being made along the lines of....."but, but, I breathalysed myself using one of the kits I am forced to carry in my car, and the result said I was below the limit and therefore safe to drive. It therefore cannot be my fault for causing the deaths of that busload of passengers through being drunk at the wheel".

And I would agree with that. The whole idea of forcing people to self-breathalyse is just asking for trouble. If the end result is that the kits are not accepted as a defense in court then it's a completely stupid law to bring in.

Someone will be making a lot of money out of though.

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

I don't see how these kits can be accepted as evidence in court - they are not accurate enough and there are too many variables and problems. For this reason but also (more importantly) because it will encourage drivers to drink and drive - I agree that it is a stupid law.

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

agree, only formally registered and regularly calibrated breathalysers will be allowable in a court of law.
considering it is well over a decade ago I saw £1.00 in the slot machines in UK pubs that were supposed to tell you if you were over the limit that were never accurate.

It is a law that comes from the devious French mind, fines if you don't carry one, fines and banning if you do and it is wrong. And all aimed at those driving through the country. Would be interesting to see how many Frenchmen actually do carry them, the same as those who don't carry a hi-vis jacket or three and one or two warning triangles.

And as to the Spanish who don't carry a spare set of glasses when driving ??

And what about the "flip-flop rule" ??

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

The smart money in France is on the whole idea of DIY breathalysers being dropped before the latest extended deadline of March 2013 but if it does come into force it is ONE per car not two. They are intended purely for self testing and the results they provide have no probative value whatsoever.

There are currently only 2 units officially approved to comply with the law.

They are the Contralco, the French company the main lobbyist for them sits on the board of and who is also a buddy of Sarkozy, and the Red Line manufactured in South Africa. There is a 3rd unit available in UK sold by AlcoSense but it's a re-badged Red Line unit.

Any and all other units, even if they do bear the NF logo, are not certified to be compliant with the law.

That itself has caused it's own problem with some other EU countries raising a complaint with the EU court right on the grounds that similar items supplied and used there will be deemed illegal in France, a clear breach of EU free trade rules. It's parallel to the Spanish rule requiring two warning triangles which now, due to EU court action, only actually applies to Spanish registered cars not foreign ones.

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

We got ours off ebay xxxxx

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

It might be worth keeping abreast of THIS THREAD

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

Yes and that someone is a relative of that runt that was running France until recently!

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

Repeating Ka-Ora's post there is a thread running on the France forum, suggesting that they will indeed be active from March.

Re: Breathalyser kits
 

Who is going to be stupid enough, if they have been drinking, to rely on on one of these kits to tell them that they are below the limit? If the gendarmes breathalyse you and you are over the limit, they won't be interested in your feeble excuses about having tested yourself. If you think you need to use one of these kits to test yourself - you shouldn't be driving.