First of all the big thing that won't change in 2019 is the planned hike of taxes on petrol and diesel.

 

French president Emanuel Macron binned those tax hikes in an rather unsuccessful bid to quell the “yellow vest” protests. And the French government isn't planning any major change to the speed limits as occurred in 2018. 

 

But certain things, some major, some minor will change in 2019 and they are likely to affect all those with cars.

 

Cost of breaking down on a motorway to rise

 

France has set base rates for the cost of having to call out breakdown services if your car grinds to halt on the autoroute and those costs will rise slightly in 2019.

 

If you break down or have an accident on the motorway in France the price of calling out help and the towing of your car will be at least €126.93. The cost rises if the intervention lasts more than 30 minutes or if the car has to be towed to a garage over 5km away.

 

The cost also goes up by 50 percent if the breakdown occurs between 6pm and 8am as well as on weekends or public holidays.

 

 

New all-seeing 'turret' cameras

 

In 2019 the French state will deploy its latest weapon to crack down on all kinds of driving offences including speeding.

 

They are called “turret” cameras or radars tourelles in French.

 

Over the next year some 6,000 turret cameras will be deployed in France with the aim of reducing the number of road deaths and injuries although they should also prove a nice little booster to the government's coffers.

 

That is if the 'yellow vest' protesters don't destroy them all as they have been doing with most other speed cameras in recent weeks.

 

The difference with ordinary speed cameras is that the “turrets” have a superior camera meaning they can pick up all kinds of driving offences, not just speeding or jumping red lights.

 

They can detect if a driver is wearing their seat belt or using their mobile phone at the wheel and they have a range of around 100 metres

 

It is estimated there will be around 60 of these new cameras in each department across France by the time they have all been rolled out in 2020.

 

 

Car insurance to rise slightly

 

There will be a slight rise in the price of car insurance in 2019. The rise has been put down the increasing cost of repairing damaged cars which will be added on to customers' bills by insurance companies.

 

Experts believe the rise will be between 1 and 2 percent.

 

Motorway tolls to rise steeply

 

Motorway tolls are another item of road “furniture” that have been targeted in recent yellow vest protests (see pic below)  with many set ablaze or destroyed by by other types of vandalism.

 

And protesters might have more reason to target them in 2019 given that the price of tolls, known as péages in French are set to rise steeply.

 

Part of the reason for the rise is to cover the losses caused by the violent protests.

 

A rise of 1.9 percent was announced by the government last December although it waits to be seen whether the hike will be implemented with the government fearful of sparking more protests.

 

(AFP)

 

Extra driving lesson for new drivers

 

In a bid to cut down the number of accidents involving new drivers French authorities will put in place a system whereby those who have recently passed their tests can take up the option of a day's complementary lesson. If drivers opt for this then they will see the probation period for their licence reduced by a year.

 

Carpooling scheme 

 

A “sustainable transport package” worth up to €200 as a way of encouraging people to carpool was introduced by the French government on January 1st. 

 

The idea is to encourage employers to cover the carpooling costs for their staff and if they do this they will be exempt from payroll social contributions. 

 

Car tests 

 

Following the “yellow vests” crisis, the new tighter contrôle technique (car roadworthy test) for diesel vehicles, originally planned to be rolled out on January 1st, has been put on hold for six months. 

 

Unless the move is completely abandoned, from July 1st drivers of diesel vehicles will be forced to undergo much stricter tests, which will almost certainly be more expensive and take longer.

 

(AFP)

 

Incentives for exchanging cars to increase

 

From January the financial incentives given to car owners who exchange their old polluting vehicles for new greener ones will double for those on modest incomes.

 

The grant or prime as it is called in French will rise from €2,000 to €4,000 for the 20 percent of households on the lowest incomes and for those drivers on low incomes who have to drive more than 60km a day to get to and from work.

 

The prime rises to €5,000 for those who buy 100 percent electric or hybrid vehicles.

 

Penalties for polluting cars to rise

 

To help finance the grants that will be paid to drivers who change their old cars for greener models the French government is to increase the financial penalties on polluting cars.

 

Car owners whose vehicles emit 117 grams of CO2 per km will have to pay an extra €50 a year.