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LIVING IN FRANCE

Can I contest the fine for breaking lockdown rules in France?

France's lockdown rules are among the strictest in Europe and police have not been shy in handing out fines to people they deem to have broken the rules - but what if you feel you were fined unfairly?

Published: 31 March 2020 16:33 CEST
Can I contest the fine for breaking lockdown rules in France?
The conditions for being allowed out during lockdown are strict. Photo: AFP

The basic premise of the lockdown in France is that you are only allowed out of your home to make essential trips, and on every trip you need to have with you a signed, dated and timed permission form.

Police are operating road blocks and stopping people on the street to check that they are complying with lockdown rules and failure to do so can result in hefty fines and even jail time.

READ ALSO France's lockdown form – your questions answered

You can be fined for being out of the house for a reason deemed 'non essential' or for not having the correctly filled out form with you, even if your trip is essential.

The accepted reasons for leaving your home are;

  • To work, if your work is essential and cannot be done from home
     
  • To shop for essential items. Most shops in France are now closed but food shops, pharmacies and tabacs (tobacco shops) remain open
     
  • For medical appointments if the appointment is urgent and cannot be done via an online appointment. Many routine hospital appointments have already been cancelled, although urgent care like cancer treatments and dialysis continues. If you have a GP appointment you are asked to choose an online appointment if possible or, if the matter can wait, reschedule it. Women are still able to access pregnancy care and abortions.
     
  • For vital family reasons eg urgent care for children or the elderly. Simply visiting family is not a good enough reason to be out and the government has previously said that no-one should be visiting people aged over 70 or with serious health conditions except to provide vital assistance. Visiting is banned at all Ehpad retirement homes and care facilities
     
  • Physical exercise. The rules on this have been tightened in recent days and this is reflected on the form. You can exercise alone, for a maximum of one hour, within 1km of your home. You can also exercise pets under the same conditions, or walk alone or with people who share the home with you.
     
  • Following a judicial or administrative summons
     
  • Participating in activities in the general interest at the request of administrative authorities. This one is a bit vague, but if you're going to use this one it would probably be wise to have some some of documentation showing that you are out at the request of your local authority.

People are also permitted to go home if they were away from their usual residence at the time of the lockdown, so tourists in France can travel to a port or airport to get home and people normally resident in France can return here. This does not include people who have a second home in France.

In the first few days of the lockdown there was some confusion over the rules and people reported being told different things by different officers.

Some people have also been given verbal warnings by police – in one case a Paris woman was warned that her clothes were not 'sporty' enough to justify a trip out for exercise.

 

In the first two weeks of lockdown police have handed out more than 200,000 fines and the fines themselves have been increased.

Your first offence will now cost you €135. If you commit second offence within 15 days, you get a €200 fine. The fine can increase to €450 if you don't pay it within 45 days.

Anyone who breaks the rules four times within 30 days faces a fine of up to €3,750 and a maximum of six months in jail. 

 

But what if, having read all that, you still believe that the fine you were given is unreasonable?

Well you can contest it, and the process is the same as for contesting speeding tickets and other fines.

If you are fined during lockdown you are given a ticket by police with details for paying the fine (police will not ask you to hand over cash in the street, as some scam artists have done).

If you want to contest it you can do so online with the Agence Nationale de Traitement Automatisé des Infractions (National Agency for Automated Offence Processing) in the désignation et contestation section.

You will be asked to fill in a form withe the details of your fine and you will then be invited to state the reasons you believe it was unreasonable.

All appeals must be filed within 45 days of the fine being given.

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LIVING IN FRANCE

Why washing your car in France can lead to a €450 fine

France has strict regulations about washing your car, and failure to abide by these can lead to hefty fines.

Published: 31 May 2024 14:59 CEST
Why washing your car in France can lead to a €450 fine

For many car owners, warm weather means time to finally give the vehicle a good wash.

But motorists in France should know that washing your car, motorcycle or other vehicle at home can actually be against the law in France – with some regulation even covering activities in your own driveway or garden.

Failing to respect the rules can lead to hefty fines. 

What does the law say?

There are two levels of regulation that affect car-washing – the Environmental Code and local regulations, but both of them are concerned about the same thing; the environmental impact of the runoff from your car washing.

During summer you also need to check if there are any drought restrictions in place, as some of these also ban any type of car-washing. 

In 1979, Paris became one of the first cities in France to pass legislation restricting where you can wash your car. The original Paris law states “Car washing is prohibited on the public highway, riverbanks, harbours and quays, as well as in public parks and gardens”. 

READ MORE: ‘Drive like a woman’: France targets male drivers in new road safety campaign

Since then, most départements across France have adopted similar decrees, which cover car-washing on public land – roads, pavements, parks or similar.

In order to find the rules in your area, contact your local préfecture (or ask the mayor), but most areas now have a ban on car-washing on the public highway, with a penalty of a third-class fine of €450. 

However there is also the Environmental Code, which operates on a national level, and that can cover even your own private property such as a driveway, garage or garden.

The Code states that “direct or indirect discharge of harmful substances into surface or groundwater is prohibited”.

This can affect wastewater from washing a vehicle as certain chemicals in car wash detergents, as well as any runoff motor oil, can have negative effects on local flora and fauna. Runoff can happen from both public and private land, which is why the Environmental Code has a wider scope.

Violating the rules on discharging harmful substances into water carries a maximum penalty of a two-year prison sentence or a fine of €75,000. Judges can also order defendants to carry out restoration of the environment that they contaminated.

The penalties are even harsher if you live in a coastal area where the runoff would go directly into the sea or ocean, or if you live next to a conservation zone. In this case, fines can go up to €100,000.

We should point out that these maximum penalties are more likely to be applied to companies which have been found to be polluting the local watercourse, rather than motorists washing their car, but the fines do have a large range.

So where can I wash my car?

First, you can go to a car wash (une station de lavage). Not only do car wash stations use less water than you would washing the vehicle at home (50 to 60 litres per vehicle instead of 200-300 litres at home), they also treat the wastewater. 

As a result, car washes do not risk polluting the waterways.

They are very common in France and include automatic car-washes, staffed car-washes where someone else does the hard work or the more common self-service type (usually coin operated) where you wash the car yourself use their pressure hoses and soap. These are often found in supermarket car-parks or at out-of-town shopping centre car parks.

Second, you can look for a designated car washing area. These would allow you to wash your own vehicle manually. They have special steps in place to treat the runoff water in compliance with environmental regulations. You can ask your mairie where these are located.

And finally, an alternative is to clean your car without using any water at all. To do this, you can purchase special wipes. There are also special dry-cleaning options, including sprays that you put onto your car, leave for a few seconds so that the dirt is absorbed, and then wipe off using a microfibre cloth.

Drought

During periods of drought, local authorities have the power to restrict non-essential water usage, including things like watering your garden or filling your swimming pool.

These regulations apply to any type of car-washing – on public or private space, or at a car-wash – and take precedence over any other local rules. 

You can check to see if your area is under water restrictions by going to the French government website vigieau.gouv.fr and typing in your home or rental address. The website will inform you of what (if any) restrictions are in place, the penalties of failing to respect them, as well as offering government advice for how to decrease your water usage.

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