Driving in France this summer - remember your breathalyzer kit

vikingaero

real1314 wrote: »

What will they bring in next?

A rule that says you have to carry a speed gun, hold it out of the window pointing back at yourself and then book yourself for speeding? :cool:

The consensus seems to be that this is a good law.

France has a problem with drivers under the influence after long liquid lunches and by making breathalysers mandatory in this manner passes responsibility firmly on offending drivers.

"I only had a couple of drinks at lunchtime and thought I would be OK?"

Well absolutely not. You had the tools available to test yourself and there can't be any mitigation of not knowing.

TrickyWicky

Stephen_Leak wrote: »

Theoretically, you could get pulled over for a blown bulb, change it at the roadside, and then be fined for not having a full set of spares.

I carry two sets in my car - weird or what?!

Stephen_Leak

TrickyWicky wrote: »

I carry two sets in my car - weird or what?!

Not weird at all. I now see the logic behind doing so. I've got a pair of spare headlight bulbs in the car already, and I'm certain I have another 380, 382 and 501 bulb in the "car" box.

And I can definitely see that having to carry your own breathalyser ought to be a good deterrent.

I was stopped for a random check on my way home from visiting a friend late one night. I had been drinking, but not much, with a meal hours beforehand and it only just registered on the detector. But it was still a salutary experience. The police officer gave me the disposable mouthpiece as a souvenir. I keep it in the car as a reminder, in case I ever get tempted to take a chance.

Kilty_2

Does it need to be those disposable things or would something like this with a bunch of tubes be acceptable?



EDIT - it seems not.

Wig

Stephen_Leak wrote: »

A good point. But where do you stop? A box of them in the boot?

Theoretically, you could get pulled over for a blown bulb, change it at the roadside, and then be fined for not having a full set of spares. An interesting legal point, although probably already lost on an armed French gendarme.

I have "one set" of spare bulbs but the (home made) kit includes 2 of every type of bulb.

You can only get fined if there is a "bulb out" and you don't have a spare. So if you did have a single bulb kit and you changed your bulb you would be extremely unlucky to get another bulb out the same night and get stopped.


Good question above.... how much are those things?

Kilty_2

I paid about £50 for mine.

Not compliant with the new French legislation though. The same company makes disposable ones and they need to have a certain mark on them for the French police to accept them.

Wig

As I am tee-total, I think I'll stick to the disposables

Kilty_2

Yeah probably cheaper :rotfl:

I just bought it to be sure the morning after over the Xmas/New Year period.

Wig

After visiting France quite a few times this year.

I can report that single breathalysers
Hyper U (blue packet by manufacturer 'Red Line') cost €1.50 each
E.Leclerc sells the green packet singles called 'Le Ballon' for €1.00 each (85p)
The 'Halfords' equivalent "Feu Vert" sells Le Ballon for €1.90 each
Carrefour & Geant were both out of stock so no information

The supermarkets have them in the motoring section, but they are usually out of stock, you will be lucky (very lucky) to find them. Other shops (newsagents, book shops etc) might have them for about €5.50 for 2

The boat sells them for 2 for £6

Or you can get them on Ebay but make sure they are French calibrated

After 3 trips this year I found them only on the last trip, I got 4 from E Leclerc, never seen them in Carrefour or Geant. They have a 2 year expiry date.

And they are called L'ethylotest for when you ask a shop assistant for them.

redux

Wig wrote: »

Or you can get them on Ebay but make sure they are French calibrated

After 3 trips this year I found them only on the last trip, I got 4 from E Leclerc, never seen them in Carrefour or Geant. They have a 2 year expiry date.

And they are called L'ethylotest for when you ask a shop assistant for them.

Some of the ones on eBay UK have 3 year expiry. Well, the ones I bought in August do