Driving is a great way to explore a country you’re visiting. Going off the beaten track and discovering a hidden gem not in the guide book is one of the great joys of travel. That unrivalled feeling of freedom to go where you want, when you want. And in Europe we are spoilt for choice of places to go.

Of course, if you do decide to rent an automobile whilst travelling, then you’ll need to adhere to the appropriate laws of the country you’re in. Navigating the roads and highways in Europe can be challenging enough, without factoring in the varying rules and regulations which must be followed. There is much more to it than just driving on the opposite side of the road.

It’s vital that you take time to familiarize yourself with Europe’s rules of the road, otherwise you risk a financial penalty, driving ban or worse. iCarhireinsurance.com, a leading provider of car hire excess insurance, have produced an interactive infographic to help you familiarize yourself with some of the most important driving laws in Europe.

Hover over each country in the map below to find out the essential driving laws to help you avoid any nasty surprises.

Please note: Whilst every effort has been made to make sure the information on this page is correct, the article is intended only to give a broad overview and its advisable that you seek detailed and up-to-date information from an official source before travelling.

The stated amount of alcohol permitted is measured by blood.

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New rules come into force as at July 2015 for drivers and cyclists in France. You need to be aware of them since breaking the rules unwittingly won’t save you from being fined or worse, you could have your vehicle confiscated.

The full rules can be found at the Government website: www.securiteroutiere.gouv.fr

French Driving Rules 2015

The use of headsets in cars and bikes is now illegal, that includes phone headsets, and ear buds, ear pieces that are part of a hands-free phone kit. Use them and risk a fine of 135€ and 3 points on your licence. In-car sets that don’t require a headset/earpiece are still permitted.

The French government are aiming to clamp down on the number of road accidents in France following an increase in recorded incidents in 2014.

Here are some of the main rules:

Drive while under the influence of drugs you will be fined 4,500€ fine + 6 points in your licence

Alcohol limits are 0.5g/l but for new drivers there is a reduction to 0.2g/l. New drivers are classified as anyone who passed their test within the last 3 years. Break the law and you will elicit a 4,500€ fine + 6 points

Clunk click every trip – if you don’t wear your seat belt you face a 135€ fine + 3 points

Watch a screen which is not a driving aid for instance a DVD and you could be made to pay 1500€ fine + 3 points

Use your phone manually while driving, for instance texting and you’ll be fined 135€ + 3 points

Use headphones (either in ear or external) means 135€fine + 3 points – this applies to all road users, car, bike, quad bike etc.

You also have to carry in your vehicle a number of obligatory items – see our driving check list here.

Until now British drivers in France have avoided some fines and points as their details have not been available for follow up. However this is all set to change from 2017 when the DVLA will make British drivers’ details available to French authorities.

More on driving in France plus advice on how to deal with accidents and break downs.

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From 16 September 2013 France started to issue a new format driving license. The famous pink paper style licences will be phased out and a new credit card model will instead be circulated.

Designed to be more secure and to fight the high level of forgeries of the old style certificate, the new driving licence will have a photograph of the holder, references to civil status and the right to drive, it contains an electronic chip which is machine readable.

Holders of the old style license have several years to replace it, in fact until January 2033, and all new issues will be in the replacement card style. The card will be posted out to holders and the old system of having to visit the Préfecture (check with your local town hall for details of your nearest office) to get a licence will be ended saving up to 2.4 million people thousands of hours of queuing each year for new licences and replacements.

EU Expats in France who are using licences from their original issuing country can continue to use them and will receive the new style card if exchanging or replacing them. Expats from outside the EU may need to acquire an international driver’s licence – you can check on your country’s Embassy or Consulate pages for details.

This change responds to instructions for a European directive in 2006 which aims to establish a single model to replace 130 existing formats in the 28 member states of the European Union.

Those who pass their driving test from 16 September 2013 will receive the new-style cards as well as anyone who has lost their original documents or had them stolen. From 2015 there will be a programme in place to issue replacements automatically to holders of the old style licences – some 38 million of them.

The new cards are free but are not valid for life as the pink paper ones were – these are renewable every 15 years.

Read more about driving regulations in France 

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Make sure you know the speed limits in France, you can be fined or have your vehicle confiscated for breaking the rules.

What is the speed limit in France:

The normal speed limit on French motorways is 130 km/hr (just over 80 mph) – or 110 km/hr in rain – 50 km per hour in fog where visibility is 50m or less

The normal speed limit on dual carriageways (divided highways) is 110 km/hr (68 mph

The normal speed limit on main roads is 80 km/hr (outside built-up areas) (50 mph) this follows a change in the law in June 2018 reducing the speed from 90km per hour.

The normal speed limit in built-up areas is 50 km/hr – unless otherwise indicated. (31mph)

Look out for the speed signs but also a town name sign is an indication of a built up area and therefore the requirement is to slow down even if there is no indicative speed limit sign. Look out for this as you may pass many small towns along a dual carriageway or main road which require you to be vigilant.

Contrary to a sometimes-heard myth, toll tickets machines are not used to compute a car’s average speed between two points.  However we have been told that sometimes French police check your toll ticket as you’re leaving a toll road and from this they will be able to calculate your speed over a long distance.

These days the police (and gendarmes) are making much more use of mobile radars in unmarked cars or at the side of roads.  It is common for fellow car drivers to indicate that these mobile speed checks are in place by flashing their lights to oncoming traffic however this is frowned upon by the police so you should avoid doing that yourself.

If you are caught speeding you can face an on-the-spot fine and if you are caught driving more than 50 km/hr over the limit – an instant ban and an impounding of your vehicle will take place – we have heard of several cases where this has occurred and it takes a considerable amount of money and effort to retrieve a vehicle.

For more rules on driving in France see:

Checklist for driving in France

Rules of the Road – Driving in France

Priorité à Droite (priority to the right)

Motor Ways and Toll roads

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Foreigners driving in France – whether its their own car or a hire car from France need to know the rules of what documentation and items to carry in the car that are mandatory.

Not having the correct documentation or items in the car can mean you are subject to fines if stopped by the police and you fail to meet the criteria.

Driving in France checklist

When driving in France there is a requirement to carry your Passport, driving licence, insurance documents, registration documents and MOT (UK). If you live in France you also need to carry similar documentation. Some insurers recommend that you carry the documentation on you instead of leaving it in the glove box – if the car is stolen then you may have problems dealing with claims if you can’t lay your hands on the relevant paperwork.

Headlamp beam converters as appropriate (eg UK cars) – this is because right hand drive cars have headlamps pointing towards the left. When in France where cars drive on the right – right hand drive cars with unconverted headlamps will shine directly into oncoming traffic.

All vehicles traveling on French roads must carry at least one yellow fluorescent jacket in the car itself – not in the boot (trunk).  Many people hang them over the back of the driver seat or passenger seat so they are visible – thereby (it is thought) avoiding a stop by police wanting to check the jacket is easily accessible from INSIDE the vehicle.  These jackets must be worn in the event of a breakdown or accident.

A red warning triangle which can be used in the event of an accident or breakdown. If used, it must be set up approximately 30 metres (100 feet) from the car facing oncoming traffic.

A spare set of bulbs and fuses and a first aid kit are not obligatory but highly recommended – you may find it difficult to buy bulbs in rural areas, or out of normal trading hours and you can be fined if a bulb is not working so in our opinion – don’t risk it – take these items with you.

For more rules on driving in France see:

Speed limits

Rules of the Road – Driving in France

Priorité à Droite (priority to the right)

Motor Ways and Toll roads

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This famous feature of French driving protocol is still causing confusion today even though it isn’t as common as it was.  Basically when you are driving in France, look out for a sign with a black cross in a white triangle with a red outline – traffic from the right entering into your road doesn’t have to stop, you do…..even if you are travelling at speed.  You’ll also find that some right entry roads have very poor visibility so practice caution.  We find that some smaller roads don’t have “give way” lines across them – often this is taken by local French road users as giving priority from the right so beware of this, particularly in rural areas.

There are at two main areas where you need to be careful:

Rural areas and small villages.  You will often find that on minor roads priorité à droite is still assumed even if there is no French road sign.  You need to look out for roads without a give way sign, slow down and don’t wait for anyone to thank you. Assume that cars will simply come from the right without stopping on these roads – 99 times out of a hundred this is certainly what happens – cars do not slow down and check when they are coming from a road which has priorité à droite (priority from the right).  The onus is on the car on the left to slow down and check and stop if a car is coming from the right. Inthe event of an accident the car from the left will almost certainly be blamed.

Paris.  In central Paris you will find that the rule is very much still practiced on roundabouts (carousels). You can be halfway round a roundabout and suddenly get cutup by a car joining the roundabout.  Keep your wits about you and pay close attention- take Paris roundabouts slowly and cautiously – better to have an angry French motorist bibbing his hooter (honking their horn) and shouting than having him and his car inserted into the side of your vehicle!

For more rules on driving in France see:

Checklist for driving in France

Rules of the Road– Driving inFrance

Speed limits in France

Motor Ways and Toll roads

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Tolls Roads in France

The entrances to toll roads are marked with the word “Péage”. The normal procedure for using the toll road is a ticket – or pay-as-you-go system. They can save you heaps of travelling time, skirting round busy towns.

When you drive onto the toll road approach, you press the button on the machine to collect a ticket which records where you enter the toll section of the autoroute. When you exit the toll section you present your ticket to a cashier in a booth, or pop your ticket in a machine. The machines have a screen which clearly indicate how much you have to pay. It’s usually quickest to pay cash so have plenty of coins handy for short journeys on the toll roads.

Using the toll roads isn’t as daunting as you might think. Even if you’re driving a car with right hand drive, with the toll booths and toll machines on the left, drivers in France are used to this. They know you might have to get out and walk round to pay if you don’t have a companion in the car to help.

And, whatever you do, don’t lose your ticket. You’ll have to pay way more than you wanted if that happens.

Signs on French toll gates: 

Red cross: closed

Green arrow: open, all methods of payment.

Blue rectangle: debit or credit cards only.

Orange T: Télépéage slow down only, no stopping – this is only for vehicles fitted with toll charging sensors.

What is the procedure if you break down on a French toll road?

Toll roads in France are effectively private roads – their rules are (for “safety reasons”) that if you break down on one of their roads you must use their breakdown operatives for assistance. The Autoroutes of France Association state that:

Minor problems are fixed in situ.

For more serious problems, the breakdown service operator will tow the vehicle to the garage.

Breakdown call-out and tow-in fees are set by the French government.

You can find more details about the fees here.

If you want to plan your route and take into account the  toll charges on French motorways, the French Autoroutes of France site has an excellent tool which  will allow you to choose your route via a number of categories such as most scenic route or quickest route and is well worth checking out.   To give you an idea, traveling to Paris from Calais will cost roughly 21,40€ (2013) – but note that  toll charges change from time to time.

The Autoroutes of France website also offers traffic updates as well as the locations of scheduled road works .  Click here to plan your route and work out the cost http://www.autoroutes.fr/en/routes.htm

For more rules on driving in France see:

Checklist for driving in France
Rules of the Road – Driving in France
Speed limits in France
Priorité a droite (priority to the right) rules

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There are well over two thousand stationary speed cameras on France’s roads and motorways – not a lot by some country’s standards but  new cameras are being set up all the time.  Your map book may be out of date and won’t in any case, include mobile radars that are favoured by the police.

You will not always see a specific speed-restriction sign at the entrance to a built-up area, particularly at the entrance to small villages.  This is very common in rural areas.  What you will see is the Village name board at the entrance to the village or town and this is an automatic indication that you are entering a built-up area with a speed limit of 50 km/h, unless otherwise indicated – don’t be caught out in this situation – remember to slow down and avoid a fine.

The AA website advises:

• Under articles L413-2 and R413-15 of the French ‘Code de la Route’ (highway code), it is strictly forbidden to have radar speed camera detectors in cars in France, regardless of whether or not they are in use.
• Penalties can include fines of up to €3,000, confiscation of the device and of the vehicle.
• This legislation does not apply to satellite navigation systems (SatNav or GPS). These can tell motorists only the location of fixed speed cameras, data which is already in the public domain

Speed Limits in France

These are the normal speed limits for driving in France:

• The normal speed limit on French motorways is 130 km/hr (just over 80 mph) – or 110 km/hr in rain – 50 km per hour in fog where visibility is 50m or less
• The normal speed limit on dual carriageways (divided highways) is 110 km/hr (68 mph
• The normal speed limit on main roads is 90 km/hr (outside built-up areas) (56 mph)
• The normal speed limit in built-up areas is 50 km/hr – unless otherwise indicated. (31mph)

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Drink Driving laws in France – know them and don’t break them to avoid fines or worse.

France is the number one tourist destination in the world – millions visit every year to take a break in its beautiful cities or in the countryside.

Many visitors will go by car or hire a car on arrival and enjoy a driving holiday and the laid-back French way of life – which will almost certainly include sampling the cuisine, wines and beers that can’t be bettered anywhere else in the world.

This relaxed attitude however does not apply to drink-driving in France where the driving rules are firm and the limit for alcohol content is  low – no more than 50mg per 100ml of blood.

• Motorists who have between 50mg and 80mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood can be fined €135 (if you have a UK licence you could lose six out of 12 points).
• Motorists with a higher reading than 80mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood can be fined up to  €4,500 (UK licence holders could lose their licence) and risk being sent to prison for up to two years.

So, if you’re planning on driving in France on holiday, know the driving rules

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In 2011 the French Government issued information that from 1 July 2012 motorists in France must carry a breathalyser kit (etholytest voiture) in their car – this included foreign motorists and holiday makers.

As at January 2013 however the Government stance is that this ruling has been amended – motorists currently are required to carry the kit but will not be fined if they don’t.

Driving rules in France states that motorists who have between 50mg and 80mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood can be fined €135 (if you have a UK licence you could lose six out of 12 points). Motorists with a higher reading than 80mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood can be fined up to  €4,500 (UK licence holders could lose their licence) and risk being sent to prison for up to two years.

French police will continue to use their own breathalyser kits to carry out roadside tests and the rules are strict on drink driving so don’t get caught out by thinking that dropping the requirement for a self breathalyser kit is reason for a downgrade – it isn’t.

As more information becomes available we will update you.

More on Driving Rules in France here.

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