France Breathalyser Law

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Tue 15 Jul 2014 21:26
France Breathalyser Law - mss1tw

Can anyone confirm the current state of this law?

Off to the Pyrenees with two motorbikes on a trailer this week and driving through France for part of the journey.

Thank you

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 15 Jul 2014 21:40
France Breathalyser Law - Wackyracer

You have to carry your own breathalysers in your car and take a few as if you are stopped and they use one, you still need to have one in the car to continue your journey.

www.iam.org.uk/media-and-research/media-centre/new...e

Edited by Wackyracer on 15/07/2014 at 21:44

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 15 Jul 2014 21:43
France Breathalyser Law - Trilogy

Google? www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g187070-i12-k67134...l

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 15 Jul 2014 21:48
France Breathalyser Law - mss1tw

Google? www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g187070-i12-k67134...l

Googling gave the problem I still have, two different answers to the same question ;)

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 15 Jul 2014 22:03
France Breathalyser Law - Smileyman

I was under the impression the law was recinded, but suggest you carry it with you just to be on the safe side ... only a few quid from Halfords so well worth it!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 15 Jul 2014 22:08
France Breathalyser Law - carr

The breath test was made ??mandatory in all land motor vehicles by a decree published in the Official Journal on Thursday 1 st March 2012.
A new decree published in the Official Journal on Friday 1 st March 2013, maintains the requirement for a Breathalyzer but removes the penalty for failing the breathalyzer possession: Drivers should continue to have a breathalyzer in their vehicle, but in his absence they will not be punished.

www.securite-routiere.gouv.fr/connaitre-les-regles...t

Buy 1 in a French supermarket and just forget about.



Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 15 Jul 2014 22:57
France Breathalyser Law - focussed

As carr posted, the situation is that you are supposed to carry at least one but you cannot be fined if you don't have one in the car- the gendarmes are not interested whether you have one or not.

The flics do not use your breathaliser they have their own electronic gadget and if you are going to buy one make sure that it's in date and marked NF -Norme Francais.

Edited by focussed on 15/07/2014 at 22:59

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 16 Jul 2014 07:47
France Breathalyser Law - mss1tw

As carr posted, the situation is that you are supposed to carry at least one but you cannot be fined if you don't have one in the car- the gendarmes are not interested whether you have one or not.

The flics do not use your breathaliser they have their own electronic gadget and if you are going to buy one make sure that it's in date and marked NF -Norme Francais.

Thanks very much (And to everyone that replied)

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 16 Jul 2014 08:26
France Breathalyser Law - Simon

I have not long come back from a European motorcycle trip which included going through France. We didn't bother with the breathalyser kit as it is a zero Euro fine for non-compliance but I have been stopped or asked for any of these things abroad ever, and this breathalyser law is a complete joke by my reckoning anyway.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 16 Jul 2014 14:07
France Breathalyser Law - Ed V

Next time I'm over there, I'll bring my barrister and prison bed packed, in case I'm asked to help cover other essential public costs.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 18 Jul 2014 00:27
France Breathalyser Law - Big John

Be more worrried about your sat nav. It must not have the ability to show where speed cameras are located - even if disabled. Showing Zone de danger OK though. If you have had recent updates you should be OK if using an old satnav BEWARE.

Last year I drove past a gendarme/douanne sting in a service station which had a double decker car transporter full of UK cars complete with roof boxes etc... Lots of ruined holidays.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 18 Jul 2014 13:50
France Breathalyser Law - AlexT

Really, they are going to put your car on a double decker and ship it back to the uk for having an old sat-nav??? That is just silly. In my country even if they take your license away at the roadside they let it there until you can arrange for a friend to come drive you or something. They don't take it away.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 18 Jul 2014 17:22
France Breathalyser Law - alan1302

Really, they are going to put your car on a double decker and ship it back to the uk for having an old sat-nav??? That is just silly. In my country even if they take your license away at the roadside they let it there until you can arrange for a friend to come drive you or something. They don't take it away.

Think poster has seen something and assumed what it was - like you say French police won't start taking tourists cars away like that.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 18 Jul 2014 18:06
France Breathalyser Law - Bromptonaut

Think poster has seen something and assumed what it was - like you say French police won't start taking tourists cars away like that.

Even if tourist cars were being detained I'd say such an event is vanishingly rare. Over last 16yrs I've driven what must be 60k miles in France.

Not only have I never been stopped but on at least two occasions I've been waved through checks as soon as UK plate/RHD were clocked.

OTOH plenty UK cars break down or suffer damage in France every day a proportion of which travel home on transporters. I'm also convinced the Dutch have a service that will transport your car to campsites in France for you while you fly.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 18 Jul 2014 23:17
France Breathalyser Law - Bilboman

Re: SatNavs in France. There are horror stories of les flics actually removing "devices" not to their liking from an offending car and smashing them on the road to disable them permanently. IIRC this was the case of radar jammers and mobile radar detectors, which have long been illegal. The recent legislation covers fixed radar detectors which alert a driver to a specific cash, sorry, speed camera.
One thing Sarkozy did get right was his all-out war on France's infamous annual road carnage, and the reduction in deaths and crashes over a two year period were quite remarkable. It undoubtedly saved lives, at the cost of a number of irate and indignant motorists.
Only a customs officer (Douanier) has the right to inspect the inside of a car and any radar detectors which may be fitted - the police (nationale/gendarmes/local) cannot enter a motorist's car without a judge's warrant. That is the letter of the law but as we all know, a determined copper will always get into a car or house if s/he wants to - be it a "mind if I have a look, Sir?" to a more Regan-style search. If a driver gives permission, or at least appears to, then that's that!
I'm not 100% sure what steps might be taken against an in-car, original equipment SatNav which happens to have (out of date) France maps and fixed radar locations installed. I would guess the car could be towed to a specialised garage which would disable or remove or simply update it.
As Shaw Taylor used to say, "Keep 'em peeled!"

Edited by Bilboman on 18/07/2014 at 23:17

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 18 Jul 2014 23:48
France Breathalyser Law - Big John

What I SAW last year was multiple agencies (Gendarmes etc...) parked hidden in a primary motorway service station (between Calais and Rouen if I remember rightly) with a double decker car transporter nearly full of mostly british cars some with roof boxes and some with bike racks with the bikes removed. I also saw a motorist (UK car) arguing with an official with a lot of paperwork open on the bonnet of his car.

What I didn't see for myself was what was being checked for. Later on I heard from other people that they had been stopped (Cite de Europe in this case) and had a lot of questions asked about their satnav.

Whether the sting I witnessed was about satnavs I will never know - I didn't hang around to ask questions!!

Didn't see anything similar this year but I did see lots of roadside hand held speed guns. On the autoroute the fixed speed cameras still seem to have a warning sign before them anyway - not that I was speeding.

Edited by Big John on 19/07/2014 at 00:00

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 7 Aug 2014 15:50
France Breathalyser Law - Ditso

Regarding breathalysers I wouldn't personally bother anymore.

This guys article sums it up pretty well.

http://www.drive-france.com/faqs/france-breathalyzer-law/

Secondly about the Sat Nav thing, I thought it was radar detection equipment that really got you into trouble. ie devices that can warn you of mobile or hand held speed guns.

I believe that most modern sat navs through big companies like TomTom are legal in France though I think you may have to turn the POI feature off. Tom Tom has a support page that you can use to put your make and model of sat nav in and it tells you if its OK for France or not.

Certainly I've heard stories of people having 1,500 euro fines and equipment confiscated though not heard of anyone having their car impounded.

I generally don't use my Sat Nav in France as these horror stories do scare me a bit.

Edited by Ditso on 07/08/2014 at 15:54

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 7 Aug 2014 19:21
France Breathalyser Law - FP

I wouldn't let it put you off.

As I understand it, French law allows satnavs to warn of "Zones de Danger", which are in effect stretches of road, some many kilometres long, in which there may be a speed camera.

When I was last in France I updated my TomTom with these and used the satnav everywhere without a problem. I would not be without one navigating French cities.

I don't get the impression the French "flics" are overly concerned with English drivers unless there's an obvious problem. I've covered thousands of kilometres over the years and never been stopped and checked once.

The one time I was stopped was part of a dramatic incident in which the police stopped all traffic on a coastal road to allow a helicopter to land; the policeman was quite chatty and told us a woman had fallen down the cliff and this was the closest they could get the helicopter.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 7 Aug 2014 20:38
France Breathalyser Law - jc2

I was pulled in for a check once-as soon as they saw my plates was waved out without a check-on the breathalayser point,my understanding is that the law has been suspended till greater availabilty in France-having said that they're sold in Halfords.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 7 Aug 2014 22:39
France Breathalyser Law - focussed

jc2 - the breathalyser law in France was scuppered when they found out that the president's mate owned the biggest company making them-once a law is brought in in France it cannot be rescinded or cancelled, that's why they've got thousands of laws that nobody takes any notice of - so they just reduced the fine to zero - don't worry aboutcarrying one.

On the subject of satnavs, just enable the password function then only you can get into it.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 8 Aug 2014 01:21
France Breathalyser Law - Ditso

To clarify I would use my Sat Nav in a big town or city to find an address. It's the main motorways/dual carrigeways between cities where I've been stopped.

Admittedly I may have been a touch over the speed limit at the time!

I tried to explain I was having difficulty converting MPH into KPH and to be fair he just laughed at me and gave me a look as if to say "do you expect me to believe that?".

They let me go after checking the car was mine and having a quick look at my passport.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 8 Aug 2014 11:50
France Breathalyser Law - FP

'... to be fair he just laughed at me and gave me a look as if to say "do you expect me to believe that?"'

You were lucky he even laughed - though I'm sure there was more than a touch of contempt. French police can be pretty grim.

'I may have been a touch over the speed limit at the time!'

There you are - they don't like to think the English are treating them with contempt - disobeying their laws etc. A Frenchman, on the other hand, disregards the law every time he can get away with it.

It's a curious mentality - create a monstrous bureaucracy and then spend a lot of effort disregarding it. A kind of sport, I guess. I still love France and French culture.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 10 Aug 2014 17:48
France Breathalyser Law - mike hannon

Until recently, French shops were virtually giving away breath testers, now they don't even bother to stock them. Don't worry about it.

>>It's a curious mentality - create a monstrous bureaucracy and then spend a lot of effort disregarding it. A kind of sport, I guess. I still love France and French culture.<<

It is indeed. I've been here 12 years and I still can't get my head around it.


Reply | Report as offensive | Link