Breathalisers for France

[Chris]

Like yur style......but sounds expensive!

Got my money the hard way and £5 sounds cheaper than a fine but that's just me.

Fine of 11 euros?

Not too expensive. I won't of course have a sign on the van declaring that the French can shove it.

 

[Chris]

Don't the French also have some customs rule about not transporting more than 800 cigarettes from other countries.?

I regularly ignore that silly rule as well and if they fined me I would challenge it in the ECHR.

It's supposed to be a free market oh:

 

[yodeli]

Lived in France for over 5 years and been stopped once, just a regular roadside check. May have been training exercise as gendarme was very young (bless). Only wanted to see my driver's licence (UK licence, French registered car) Just waved me on my way.
No-one has ever asked to see my spare bulbs (I have a wide selection!!) triangles, first aid kit or fluorescent jackets (again, various on board)
Do have a NF breathalyser thingy but alcohol makes me ill, so don't think that last half glass of wine I had in 2006 would affect my driving now.

Been stopped in Ariège , being with my best friend Lyli, and we just could not stop laughing as my friend when seeing them had said ... I bet they stop us.

They asked for my papers , and I gave the papers of another person/other car I had with me .

So they said to me: Are you sure it is your car? Me: Of course I am ...Them " what are you called?" ....
Answered by giving my full name. "Well these are not your papers , where are yours?" ... and me instead of worrying where were mine, I said "OMG then the person is driving her car without her papers , this is terrible !!!!" they laughed and replied ... just like you right now !!! "Whoops ... hang on , I have them ... surely somewhere".
Found them, showed them but they never asked for anything else...this is what they did instead: they phoned the police station of my town to say they had the papers of such person/such car so that the person was not arrested.
That was really cool and nice from them, wasn't it !!!?

One month later , I was on the back seat of another car , same road .... same policemen and they stopped the car , without having seen me . Honestly I never thought they would have remembered me but as soon as they saw me on the rear seat, they went laughing and laughing : Helloooooo you , how are you? You don't need your papers today hey? And we had a chat ... they never asked anything to the driver , they just took for granted he was a good man.

I never had spare set of bulbs , never had half of what is asked ; I have a breathalizer but I know I won't use it, and whatever the date on it I won't change it. They will be asking for them for may be the next 6 months , may be the next year ... and then just like the rest , they will forget about it and ask only for the driving licence, and identity papers . As long as you look and sound clear... they don't bother (for most of course , now there is always someone who will have the worst policeman on earth .... hey we all have those ones , and they exist in all the countries, just no chance if it happens to you)


Amicalement

Frankie

 

[Hollyberry]

[HI]Lived in France for over 5 years and been stopped once, just a regular roadside check. May have been training exercise as gendarme was very young (bless). Only wanted to see my driver's licence (UK licence, French registered car) Just waved me on my way.[/HI]
No-one has ever asked to see my spare bulbs (I have a wide selection!!) triangles, first aid kit or fluorescent jackets (again, various on board)
Do have a NF breathalyser thingy but alcohol makes me ill, so don't think that last half glass of wine I had in 2006 would affect my driving now.


Happened in Ariege--near Montbron Bocage

 

[Gunner29]

Comn Own up

Just how many of you who moan about NOT obeying the France law, and DON'T carry Fluorescent jackets for self and passenger and warning triangles????etc etc

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[ericonabike]

Too many negatives in that last post for me to work it out! But I carry neither hi viz nor triangle. If I break down I am putting hazards on, exiting vehicle on the near side and getting off the carriageway. I do not intend wandering down the hard shoulder to put up a warning triangle. In my younger days I did carry one, and proudly marched down the road to put it on the hard shoulder about 100 yards upstream. The breakdown guy came along, pointed it out, and said 'you must want your bumps reading' or words to that effect.

As for fines, imprisonment, moral turpitude etc - the parallels made by Bob don't stack up. I will obey any law that tells to behave or act in a certain way. But I am not going to obey laws that tell me to buy a particular item. It's a matter of principle and a calculated risk, which affects none but myself. Again, if anyone has personal experience of being asked to produce bulbs, hi viz, triangles, liquorice allsorts or whatever the latest item is, I would love to hear it!

 

[kathywil]

my husband was on a serious mission to find these breathalyswhatsits while we were in France this year. he even went into a police station to ask about them. the police on duty just laughed and waved him away. . he asked in supermatkets, petrol stations, and just about anywhere he could think of. no one had any. we have already got some ( from england i think), and they cost about £1-50. but even if we didnt have them, i wouldnt be too concerned. the french aren't.

 

[mikebeaches]

I looked at them at the Eurotunnel services at Folkestone at the beginning of the month - £4.99... EACH!

Since the law is not due to be enforced until 1 November, I decided I didn't need them on that trip.

Oh, and I gather when you do find them at a sensible price, it's important to check the 'use by' date, because I understand it's quite short. Folk have been caught out buying them and then checked the small print and discovered only valid for another month or two. :Angry:

 

[Chris]

I looked at them at the Eurotunnel services at Folkestone at the beginning of the month - £4.99... EACH!

Since the law is not due to be enforced until 1 November, I decided I didn't need them on that trip.

Oh, and I gather when you do find them at a sensible price, it's important to check the 'use by' date, because I understand it's quite short. Folk have been caught out buying them and then checked the small print and discovered only valid for another month or two. :Angry:

Which in my view makes the 11 euro fine a bit of a bargain.:thumb:

 

[yodeli]

OK .... I am going to try to make everyone agree... Let's pull up my sleeves... something tells me this is going to be some hard job


Right : First point

We're talking about the LAW: No matter if it's a clever law or not , only facts matter!

So ... you need ONE item. This item is meant to test yourself if you have any doubt about your % of alcohol . If Police arrests you it means that your test proved you were under the % of alcohol meant to be prohibitive . Police will test you with their own breathalizer (did you really think they would rely on an NF item?What.. may be coming from another country ??? indeed ?? Nah ) and then you just show them the used breathalizer... remember the one you used a few minutes ago ... you don't remember???, tututututut , you cheated hey??


Second point : This is not the LAW .... this is just common sense: You want to drive ? Don't drink ! You can't do that? ... You definitely need more than one item!!!!


It would be a shame that those who do not drink have more than one, and completly stupid for the others to have only 2! In fact they should need 2 for each drinking day. One to tell them: "Get your hands off the wheel , you bonquers!"...And one to tell them a few hours later, "Go on now boy , you 've reach a decent % of alcohol!!"


So : One item = LAW
One item = Fact : you don't drink and so will never have to use it
Number of days staying in France x 2 = Fact : you need to check every single day

Does this make things clearer? If you don't get it oh:... forget it for the present time ... and read again tomorrow when sober


I know I know .... I'm a cheeky moo !

Frankie:Cool:

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[Gunner29]

Eric

Did you "BUY" a Tax Disc this year Ericonabike or do you ignore that also.??

 

[Phill D]

Too many negatives in that last post for me to work it out! But I carry neither hi viz nor triangle. If I break down I am putting hazards on, exiting vehicle on the near side and getting off the carriageway. I do not intend wandering down the hard shoulder to put up a warning triangle. In my younger days I did carry one, and proudly marched down the road to put it on the hard shoulder about 100 yards upstream. The breakdown guy came along, pointed it out, and said 'you must want your bumps reading' or words to that effect.

As for fines, imprisonment, moral turpitude etc - the parallels made by Bob don't stack up. I will obey any law that tells to behave or act in a certain way. But I am not going to obey laws that tell me to buy a particular item. It's a matter of principle and a calculated risk, which affects none but myself. Again, if anyone has personal experience of being asked to produce bulbs, hi viz, triangles, liquorice allsorts or whatever the latest item is, I would love to hear it!

Just to be ever so slightly boring.... choosing which laws apply to you does affect others and the calculated risk you make may well have a negative impact on others. Regrettably in some cases, the the law is the law, wether we see sence in it or not.h

 

[Chris]

We are only talking about not complying with one law here, not general law breaking.

I don't drink and drive and I won't on principle comply with this French law.

That's my choice, others have theirs.

 

[Phill D]

Agreed the thread is about 1 legal requirement, but a previous post suggests ignoring any law that requires a purchase,,, triangle, yellow vest, bulbs etc etc.

However, i agree we all probably ignore a law from time to time... speeding as an example. However, you would not set out on a journey stating you are going to deliberately break the speed limit.

 

[Phill D]

But i respect your right to choose.

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[Billy23]

I suppose if we all decided not to take any notice of just one law.....well we wouldn't need a government, police force.....and lots of other things, because with 60 odd million people in the UK, well if only half of them picked ...just one law to ignore....well I am sure you can work out the rest!!

And if you dont want to take any notice of a French law or Spain or any other place, well dont go there! End of problem:thumb:

 

[Chris]

I suppose if we all decided not to take any notice of just one law.....well we wouldn't need a government, police force.....and lots of other things, because with 60 odd million people in the UK, well if only half of them picked ...just one law to ignore....well I am sure you can work out the rest!!

And if you dont want to take any notice of a French law or Spain or any other place, well dont go there! End of problem:thumb:

I don't have a problem Billy - you appear to have one though.

If I get stopped and asked to produce my 2 breathalyser kits I will have to stump up the 11 euro fine - so what?

I comply with most laws I think and I always carry High viz vest and triangle etc. I even fit headlight deflectors.

I am just not going to buy a breathalyser because France says so. If it was the law across Europe I would get one.

What's the problem?

 

[Billy23]

I don't have a problem Billy - you appear to have one though.

If I get stopped and asked to produce my 2 breathalyser kits I will have to stump up the 11 euro fine - so what?

I comply with most laws I think and I always carry High viz vest and triangle etc. I even fit headlight deflectors.

I am just not going to buy a breathalyser because France says so. If it was the law across Europe I would get one.

What's the problem?

Nuf Said!

 

[ericonabike]

Let's not let this get heated! Out of interest I Googled for 'French Highway code' and found the Official website of the French Government Tourist Office. check out .

Couple of quotes: '8 A red warning triangle is to be carried in case of breakdown, unless your car has hazard warning lights [my emphasis], but is strongly advised anyway as breakdown may affect your electrics. However it is compulsory for cars towing a caravan or a trailer.'

'9 .... It is strongly advisable to have a complete spare-bulb kit (buy before you go) as it is illegal to drive with faulty lights.'

So, perhaps the 'legal requirement' for these items has been over-egged a little? It is also illegal to actually drive with faulty lights here, tho you wouldn't think so to see the number that do!

 

[Gunner29]

Talking to 3 Frenchmen here who are in the office and they have their 2 breatherlisers in their car. So have I

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