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DRIVING

What you risk if you drink and drive in France

A new punishment for drink driving is being rolled out across France in a bid to cut the number of road deaths linked to alcohol. Here’s what you need to know about what's at stake if you drive whilst under the influence in France.

Published: 13 March 2019 16:16 CET
What you risk if you drink and drive in France
1,035 people died in 2017 in France due to drink driving offences. Photo: AFP

France is introducing a new law that will apply to all those caught drink-driving.

From now on drivers will have to pick between either having their licence suspended or having a vehicle ignition breathalyser installed in their cars.

The ignition breathalyser means the car cannot be started unless you first pass a breathalyser test that involves blowing into a device installed in the car.

The devices known as EADs in French (ethylotest anti-démarrage) have been compulsory in France since 2015 on buses. 

(Drink drive offenders can opt to have an ignition breathalyser installed in their vehicles. Photo: AFP)

They require the driver's alcohol level to be below 0.2 grams per litre of blood in order for the vehicle to start. The legal limit for everyone else is 0.5 g/l, with drivers with less than three years of experience begin limited to 0.2 g/l.

The new measure will apply to those drivers caught with more than 0.8g/l of alcohol in their blood. Drivers will have to pay out of their own pocket for the devices which cost more than €1,000 and will have to remain in the car for at least five years.

READ ALSO: 

Police recorded 123,926 drink driving offences in France in 2017. Photo: AFP

Drink driving is still seen as socially acceptable by many in France, but road safety charities say that it caused the deaths of 1,035 people in 2017.

Police say that they recorded 123,926 drink driving offences that year, which represents 20 percent of all traffic offences.

Alcohol is also said to be behind 58 percent of all road deaths at weekends.

Twenty-nine percent of the people surveyed by France’s Prévention Routière et Assureurs Prévention in 2014 admitted they had driven with more than the legal 0.5 grams/ litre of alcohol in their blood stream.

According to the study titled “Going out, drinking alcohol and driving: the French take too many risks”, 27 percent also claimed they had gotten in a vehicle even though they thought the driver was over the limit.

The head of France's leading motorists group said France had failed to make the same progress as the UK.

“In contrast to the UK drink-driving is not yet socially unacceptable in France,” Pierre Chasseray, the head of driver's group “40 million d'automobilistes” told The Local at the time.

READ ALSO:

Here are the rules about drinking before you drive, but in general the official advice is that it's better to shun alcohol altogether if you’re about to hit the road.

With the limit being just one small beer or glass or wine – and even that can sometimes put you over the permitted level – full sobriety is the best way to go when you get behind the wheel.

These are the most severe punishments possible, but judges can and do impose lesser ones. Their punishments may depend on the consequences of the driver's actions, such as whether there was an accident and whether people were hurt or even killed.

  • Driving with more than 0.8g/l of alcohol in the blood can lead to a two-year jail sentence, a three-year driving ban or installing an EAD in the vehicle, and a fine of up to €4,500.

  • The above punishment can also be handed out to anyone who refuses to take a breathalyser test.

  • Any subsequent drink driving offence can land you four years in jail, a fine of €9,000, and a three-year driving ban (or getting an EAD installed)

  • All of the above offences will make you lose up to six of the 12 points on your licence, and you vehicle may be confiscated.

  • Driving under the influence of drugs or failing to cooperate with a drugs test will land you up to two years in jail, a €4,500 fine and a three-year driving ban.

  • Driving with between from 0.5g/l and 0.8g/l of alcohol in your blood can leave you with a fine of €135 (reduced to €90 if you pay within days of receiving the fine), the loss of six licence points, and a three-year suspension of your licence.

While you might escape paying a fine if you are caught by a speed camera driving in France in a foreign-registered car, this will of course not apply if you are caught drink driving, as this entails contact with a police officer who has stopped you.

 

 

Member comments

  1. What’s the use of having a Vehicle Ignition Breathalyser installed in your car, when you can just get a child or someone who hasn’t been drinking to breath into it so that you can start your car?

    1. The devices have a camera in them to record who’s blowing. They also require you to blow again after a period of time in order to continue driving.

  2. Agree with Daniela … but also one glass of wine or a small beer … ambiguous? Wine is higher in alcohol content than beer so I am having trouble with the “arithmetic”?

  3. Beer is usually weaker than wine (though not always these days) but a small beer is usually bigger than a glass of wine so the alcohol consumption is probably about the same, unless you’re drinking the special small beers they serve sometimes in bars, in which case the alcohol content may also be the same. Drinks and glasses all vary in strength and size so it’s bound to be a bit ambiguous, but it seems to be a rough estimate that will keep folk out of trouble. The best advice if you’re driving is don’t drink at all and the small amount that is permissible makes it hardly worth bothering with – so why bother?

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DRIVING

Can France confiscate your foreign driving licence?

A recent court case in southwest France raised the question of whether a driver holding a licence issued in a foreign country can have it rescinded. Here's what the ruling means for foreigners in France.

Published: 10 May 2024 10:26 CEST
Can France confiscate your foreign driving licence?

A Briton was recently banned from driving in France for 18 months, fined a total of €600 and handed an eight-month suspended prison sentence after seriously injuring a student while speeding on the wrong side of the road while under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

But he avoided more serious punishment because, the court said, French law does not allow for the permanent withdrawal of a foreign-issued driving licence.

The court heard that the British motorist was driving at twice the speed limit, was nearly three times over the legal limit for alcohol in France, and tested positive for cannabis when the incident occurred in Cahors, Lot, in May 2023. He had recently moved to the area, according to Actu Lot.

The case, and the court’s ruling, raises important points about French law regarding driving licences.

While technically licences issued outside of France cannot be permanently confiscated and points cannot be withdrawn from them, there are other serious considerations people should take into account when driving on a foreign-held licence in France, including how long they have been resident here.

People visiting France on holiday

Motoring message boards on social media frequently include discussions in which foreign motorists driving in France on holiday have had their licences temporarily confiscated by police – but they are usually returned a few weeks later. 

Some drivers recommend paying for an International Driving Permit, just in case – even though motorists from many countries do not need them to drive in France, because the law allows police in France to provisionally confiscate licences for certain driving offences.

If you’re coming to France on holiday, then there is usually no problem with driving on the licence of your home country, whether you’re bringing your own car or renting one once you arrive.

Technically, France cannot remove points from a foreign driving licence, but you can still be forced to pay a fine or deal with any criminal ramifications from a driving offence. Additionally, if the fine is not paid, your car could be impounded.

READ MORE: What to do if you get a speeding ticket while driving in France

Residents of France

If you live in France, however, it’s a different story. You may be ordered to exchange your licence if you commit certain traffic offences. As a result, once you are forced to switch onto a French licence, you could lose the points that you would have if your licence was not foreign-issued.

On top of that, after a certain period of residency (usually one year, although there is a slightly different system for UK licences) you are legally required to swap your licence for a French one, if you want to drive here.

READ ALSO Is it illegal to drive on a foreign licence if you live in France?

The process for swapping your licence depends on where you learned to drive in the first place will dictate whether you have to take a French driving test. Here’s a country-by-country breakdown of the rules.

For Britons, a 2021 agreement allows people who live in France and hold a UK or NI licence issued before January 1st, 2021 to continue using them as before. 

They only need to exchange when their photocard licence or actual licence runs out. You can apply to exchange your licence for a French one once you get within six months of the expiry date of either the licence or the photocard, whichever is first.

Anyone driving on a licence issued after January 1st, 2021, will need to exchange it for a French one within one year of moving to France. 

READ ALSO EXPLAINED: How to swap your UK driving licence for a French one

Exchanging your licence is a time-consuming bureaucratic process and for many people it simply feels like too much hassle – especially if you don’t own your own car and just occasionally drive a rented vehicle or one lent to you by a kindly friend or neighbour.

This is especially the case for people who have a driving licence from a country (or certain states of the USA) that doesn’t have a reciprocal agreement with France, as they have to take a French driving test in order to get a licence in France. 

What do you risk if you carry driving on your old licence?

The French government is clear: “The exchange for a French licence is compulsory in order to be able to drive in the long-term in France.”

If you are a non-EU citizen, your visa or residency permit provides clear proof that you live in France, so in most cases it’s unambiguous that you should have swapped your licence if you are stopped by police. 

Driving while not having a valid licence carries a penalty of up to a year in prison sentence and a fine of €15,000. 

READ ALSO 5 things Brits in France need to know about swapping driving licences

Since 2014 a fast-track system has been in place in which people who meet certain criteria (first offence, not involved in any other traffic offences) can immediately plead guilty and take an €800 fine. 

Be aware, too, that drivers using a foreign licence they really shouldn’t because they live permanently in France, may be driving uninsured, even if they’re paying for vehicle insurance – because driving on the wrong licence invalidates it.

If you have an accident while driving, even if it’s not your fault, you will need to contact your insurance and if you’re showing a French address and a non-French licence, questions will be asked. 

Listing an address that’s not your actual place of residence counts as lying to insurers, which can result in the refusal of your claim, and could lead to prosecution. 

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