Driving in France dont forget your breathalyser

[Ribol]

blueg33 said:

Ok so you come out of Le Bistro, test yourself, you are not over the limit, you drive on and get stopped "Bonjour, show moi deaux breathalysers sil vous plait"....."Oh la la, monsieur only has une breathalyser unused, Monsieur et nicked"

My understanding is that you are allowed to carry just one, but they advise you carry two.

For the record I think it is a load of bol locks but the bottom line is as I drive there fairly regularily and thems are the rules I will have to work with them

One thing that has always remained the same over the years is that foreign drivers stand a far better chance of getting nicked than French ones, now they have made that official

Edited by Ribol on Sunday 1st July 22:24

[RichB]

Krustious said:

Your French impression is better than mine...

It wasn't your fault your French gendarme had a Spanish accent

[Krustious]

RichB said:

It wasn't your fault your French gendarme had a Spanish accent

Yep, way to much time spent in Lanzarote I'm afraid

[Expatloon]

Just an update on this breathalyser nonsense, the implementation of penalties for not having one (€11 fine) has been postponed from November 1st until March 2013.

Ostensibly this is because of supply shortages (still can't find them for love nor money) however rumors abound of the law being rescinded anyway.

Apart form owt else there are protests from other EU states about the frogs position that only French NF certified devices comply with the law, one in the eye for Sarkos mate who was one of the chief lobbyist for the law whilst at the same time being on the board of Contralco, the sole French manufacturer of the wretched things.

For the record if anybody is still feeling compelled to buy them (or has) currently there are only three models which are NF certified.

In France

Contralco

Red Line (South African manufacturer)

and in UK

AlcoSense (a re-badged Red Line)

[Ribol]

Expatloon said:

Ostensibly this is because of supply shortages (still can't find them for love nor money) however rumors abound of the law being rescinded anyway.

no shortage of them on Ebay, Amazon, ...........

[carob]

Alcosense available in Maplins.

Rob

[sgrimshaw]

Just one more good reason to avoid going to France.

"France, lovely country spoilt by the French"

[Pink_Floyd]

Expatloon said:

Ostensibly this is because of supply shortages (still can't find them for love nor money) however rumors abound of the law being rescinded anyway.

Avaliable in Halfrauds, in packs of 2. Cost is similar to online stores when you add the p&p on.

[Johno]

sgrimshaw said:

Just one more good reason to avoid going to France.

"France, lovely country spoilt by the French"

Another boring stereotype trotted out by the ill informed and easily influenced . . . yawn.

At least be original, or entertaining, or justify your drivel with the multitude of terrible experiences you've had.

Kits available in Norauto over here for €1, stocked up a while ago.

Whilst I considered this one of the French's more idiotic 'prevention' laws, it proved its worth at Le Mans this year.

After one night, not particularly heavy, one of our team needed to go to town. None of us would have really given much thought to driving as it was after lunch the next day etc .. . For a laugh we tried it, he blew positive, and stayed put rather than risk the consequences.

So although rather tedious to have to have them in the car and whilst it will not stop those determined to drink and drive from carrying on, they do serve a purpose if you choose to use them. At €1 when you can find them, then for the peace of mind the morning after, or that evening you had an extra glass etc it is actually useful.

Edited by Johno on Wednesday 10th October 10:03

[Mark.]

I think it's a good idea to keep one in the car, you can never be sure after a drink or two.

Was thinking of getting one of these
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

but not sure if they hit the French Law requirements?

Not saying I think the French law is any good, just having one regardless

[Zumbruk]

JnP said:

It won't be enforced yet, that's correct. There is also a national out of stock problem, so the French authorities should be compliant...

To Brits? Yeah. Right.

[Ribol]

sgrimshaw said:

Just one more good reason to avoid going to France.

"France, lovely country spoilt by the French"

Can't see what all the fuss is about, buy a couple for £5 chuck them in the car and play the game.

Their country, their rules, if you don't like it don't go there.

[GeoW]

Mark. said:

I think it's a good idea to keep one in the car, you can never be sure after a drink or two.

Was thinking of getting one of these
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

but not sure if they hit the French Law requirements?

Not saying I think the French law is any good, just having one regardless

Planning for a trip to France later this year so I've been doing some research into this and the breathalysers used must be "NF Approved" ("Norme Française" which translates to French Standard) and this is not one of them. To be fair to Halfords they have stated this but isn't overly clear. Also, it's worth having an NF approved device because the French legal limit is some 10mg less than the UK...

I was thinking it would be good to have one of these for use in the UK and FR but I haven't found a device with a UK/FR language set on unless you want to spend 000's...

Any recommendations?

[Meths]

The cobwebs are strong in this thread.


Don't need them anyway. They've been outlawed (or something like that).

[Mark.]

Yep, the law has been rescinded I'm told.

[jaydom]

Yes the law isn't applied for the time being. I was againt this law, but, by the way, if you can avoid having a crash or something like this.
the problem is for me that the guy who knows that he is drunk will never use it. So, it's useless.
But, loving wine (and loving whisky a lot even if the sentence below makes me frightened...), it's maybe only a question of individual responsability.
I have some in my cars... For example, if i go to a diner with my wife and son, and i feel drunk, maybe i will use it to keep them alive.

And about this sentence...

---

Just one more good reason to avoid going to France.

"France, lovely country spoilt by the French"

---

I love this... Incredible.
So please, don't come... Don't buy some french wines, don't go to some french restaurants... And i think you don't go to Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Greece, Portugal or even USA !!!!
I'm not so proud to be french. I'm a convinced european. I'm dreaming about a CEE with Germany, England, France, maybe Spain or Italy. Nothing about how i love people or not. Only economic considerations.
I love to come in England. I'm nearly thinking about installing my company in England for all the reasons we know about french politics.
Far away from me to excite the PH forum.
But excuse me... It appears to me to be a "little thinking".

Jay

[Cats]

Well said Jerome

[Laser Sag]

jaydom said:

And about this sentence...

---

Just one more good reason to avoid going to France.

"France, lovely country spoilt by the French"

---

Jay

Don't worry about it Jay, the more people with that idea the more France for the rest of us to enjoy

[jaydom]

I'm not worried.
My first thought when i read this was : ok... They will see these f..... English Bas.... when we will win on rugby next we i think.
But... But... But...
The french team seems to have no breathalyser... Maybe they are too drunk...
Excuse me... I just own two tvr other there; i am a quite active on the French TVR Club (sorry, the french one !). We love english cars other there (a lot of us and not only tvr).
But maybe we are spoiling a lot our country with these cars that are cunsuming too much, loosing oil, are making noise, and are doing a lot of pollution !
and, we can not have the homologation to get them road legal other there !
We are mad... Yes... I assume it ! Rebel also !
I like this post !

[Ribol]

jaydom said:

..........i am a quite active on the French TVR Club (sorry, the french one !). We love english cars other there (a lot of us and not only tvr).

Interesting - do you have regular meets, if so which areas?