Brits heading to France this summer need to abide by strict clean air laws or they could find themselves slapped with a fine.
All cars and motorbikes entering clean air zones in France need to display a sticker showing what emissions their vehicle produces, even if they've been driven from a different country.
If you fail to do so and you're caught, you face being fined €68 (£58).
The system, called Crit'Air, was introduced by the French government as a way to reduce harmful vehicle emissions in areas where air quality is poorest, such as larger towns and cities, in 2017.
Aix-Marseille-Provence region, Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Montpellier, Nice, Paris, Reims, Strasbourg and Toulouse all have low emission zones.
The French capital has two permanent low-emissions zones in place – the Greater Paris ZCR and the Central Paris ZCR, the latter covering the entire area within the Boulevard Périphérique ring-road.
This month more stringent rules have been introduced in the Greater Paris ZCR meaning only vehicles displaying Crit’Air vignettes E, 1 or 2 are allowed to enter the city between 8am and 8pm, Monday to Friday.
From January 2024, all diesel vehicles will be banned from entering the Parisian zone. The fine as it currently stands rises to €135 if you're driving a truck.
To make sure your car is clean air zone compliant, log on to the official website and order a sticker, which costs just €4.61 including postage.
It is important that only the official website is used to order the stickers, as there are a number of third-party scam sites selling fakes.
A sticker covers the vehicle for its entire lifetime, and is based on the vehicle's Euro emissions standard. If your vehicle is new and has lower emissions, then you should have no problem driving through any of the clean air zones.
There are six categories in the Crit’Air vignette system, which range from green for the cleanest through to dark grey for the dirtiest:
In these areas, certain vehicles can be refused entry based on the Crit’Air sticker displayed on the windscreen – either all the time or on certain days where air pollution levels are dangerously high.
If driving in any of these zones, a Crit’Air sticker should be affixed to the right-hand side of the car’s windscreen and should be clearly visible at all times.
Cars registered before January 1997 and motorbikes and scooters registered before June 2000 are ineligible, and cannot be driven at all where restrictions apply.
If you are planning to drive in France this holiday, it is also important to remember to pack a high-viz yellow vest in case you break down and have to get out of the car on a busy road. By law every vehicle must have at least one for every occupant.
Unlike in the UK where there is a set alcohol limit for all drivers, in France it varies depending on your experience.
For drivers and riders that have less than three years of experience, the alcohol limit is 0.2 grams per litre. If you have more than three years' experience the limit is 0.5 grams per litre.
Both are lower than the English, Welsh and Northern Irish limit of 0.8 grams per litre - while the Scottish limit is 0.5.
All drivers and riders are prohibited from wearing headsets and headphones whilst driving, be it for music purposes or for phone calls.
The speed limit on many A and B roads in France has been reduced to 80km/h (50mph), in a bid to save up to 400 lives a year, the government says.
