Driving in France

Tapping in/out with a credit card for toll roads was a piece of cake with our rental car in France this past spring.
Can't speak to the speed cameras since I clearly didn't speed or get a ticket in the mail for speeding. But I also couldn't believe the remarkably beautiful conditions of the roads (Brittany/Normandie) and how little traffic there was relative to the potholed roads of SoCal. I really enjoyed it.

Speed cameras are a fact of life. But in France they also have zones where they measure the average speed between two points, which does even more to keep drivers at a steady speed below the limit. If you use an app (I like Waze) it should tell you when there's a camera or a speed zone.

You can get a ticket for going less than 5 KM over the limit. Note this is KM, not MPH.

Toll booths have specific lanes. If you use the card lane you must pay by card. If you use the cash lane... Chose your lane. You need to make sure your card understands that you are traveling and will work.

You need to check with the rental company as to toll passes. In my experience they don't have them.

Lyon, Aix-Marseille, Toulouse, Nice, Montpellier, Strasbourg, Grenoble, Rouen, Reims, Paris, and Saint-Étienne all require the Crit d'Aire.

Other possible issues:

You must know the speed limits, which can vary by type of road, and may not be posted. For example the city speed limit starts at the sign posted at the city limit.

If you see a electronic sign showing your speed (often with a "smiley face") you should expect a camera.

If you plan to drive on Sunday, make sure you have gas. Outside the major cities, and along the freeways/Autobahn, it's not common to find fueling stops open on Sundays. Pay at the pump is very uncommon.

Thanks.

It's my understanding that some cities have no drive areas without special authorization. But which ones?

I hadn't heard of the Crit d'Air sticker. Seems like an additional hassle. I assume the rental car will come with one, as otherwise they would be basically impossible to obtain. Do you know?

Our rental will be an compact-sized gas powered automatic transmission car--Peugeot 2008 or equivalent. Which level will that constitute?.

There are various types of speeding cameras —both stationary and mobile. The toll roads are where your entrance to the tollway is recorded and when you exit- that time is also recorded. If the tollroad you’re on has a distance of 100 kilometers with a speed limit of 100km per hour— if you just drove it in 55 minutes, expect an expensive fine to be tacked on to the credit card you rented the car with. And it usually happens weeks later after all the formalities are processed.
(French motorways have a speed limit of 130km/hr in dry conditions and 110km/hr in wet conditions; That is 80 mph/dry; 68 mph/wet.
The worst part is learning you were ticketed for speeding after you return home and take a look at your credit card bill. To me, getting pulled over by the police with flashing lights is enough incentive to drive responsibly for a year or two. . Kick in a ticket and there’s no way I would risk getting another one.
But, if I’m a first-time driver in France, and I don’t know the tollways are monitoring my speed on the highway between tollbooths with no speed limit signs, and no police officer ever pulled me over to write a ticket— it’s a big surprise to see fines for 6 various speeding tickets tacked on to the Visa card!
In France, there is the equivalent of Italy’s “ZTL” zones where only registered locals can drive. In France these are called Limited Traffic Zones or “LTZ” zones. If you see a road sign with a red circle on a white background, you’re looking at a LTZ zone and should interpret the sign as a “Do Not Center” sign.
The LTZ zones are new in recent years in France and are not nearly as common as Italy’s ZTL zones.
Paris is only expected to begin LTZ areas sometime this year.

In the States, when traffic conditions permit, I routinely drive at 120% of the posted speed limit. For example when driving the relatively flat, straight heavy traffic free stretches of I-90 in Eastern Washington. The posted limit is 70 mph, I set the cruise control (in a car that automatically slows down to keep you a number of vehicle lengths behind the car in front of you, if there is one) at 84 mph.. I have never been ticketed for doing so.

It sounds like this wouldn't be true in France.

Correct. the speed limit is the limit, not a suggestion. Even one kilometer is one over the limit.

No, rental cars don't have transponders.
Any city with a historic center will have restrictions. Where I live, people park in underground garages and walk or take public transportation to their lodging. Other cities have street-level parking lots outside where the old city walls were.

Ahh yes. I-90 in Washington is one of those open-road highways that is safer than the posted limits.
I drove in Norway and Spain last year and. In both countries I found myself occasionally going just beyond the speed limits. And there were flashing camera lights in tunnels as I drove past making me think I must have been a few miles per hour over the speed limit.
I learned in Norway, a percentage up to 5% over the speed limit is forgiven.
In Spain I think the percentage is closer to 8%, but I’m not certain,
But, in France, the legal leeway is basically zero.
First toll roads to have drivers pay tolls to drive slowly!

Rental cars usually have Crit'air stickers, but I have seen them missing in some regions far from cities with restrictions.
It does not matter much, because Crit'air is barely enforced, and because if you really want to comply, you can apply for a Crit'air sticker electronically for a nominal fee of less than 5€ IIRC.

A couple of things to note:
Lyon and Rouen are virtually inaccessible without a CritAir sticker, and they are being increasingly enforced.

The average speed between toll booths is a myth perpetuated by people who weren't paying enough attention to notice a roadside speed camera. There are average speed cameras on a couple of roads, but they are signposted and blatantly obvious.

My last speeding ticket was 73 km/h in a 70 zone. My defence is that 1950s speedometers aren't that accurate.

Any device which alerts you to radar or speeds cameras is illegal in France and should be turned off whichever app you're using. And yes, I do know someone who's car was impounded because of having a radar detector.

Good to know about Lyon & Rouen, Simon! The Paris region still sees a lot of Crit'air-less cars for now.
In any case, https://www.certificat-air.gouv.fr/ is where one applies for a sticker if your car does not have one. It costs a mere 3.77€, and you receive an email invoice within 24 hrs. that covers you in the event of a check.

I confirm what Simon said, There is no speed control using the average speed between toll booths, it is legally prohibited by personal data protection laws. Only a judge can request this data in the context of legal proceedings.

But there are sections of a few kilometers on highways or roads where your average speed between two points is measured.
Signs identical to those of fixed speed cameras clearly warn of these sections. The detection devices look like this:

http://www.radars-auto.com/photos/10/radar-D952-noizay-4065-4.JPG

For fixed speed cameras the tolerance is 5 km/h for any speed measured below 100 km/hour, and 5% for higher speeds.

So, if your measured speed is 55 km/h on a road where the speed limit is 50 km/h it's ok, but not if it's 56 km/h.

Regarding mobile speed cameras, the tolerance margin is 10 km/h if the measured speed is below 100 km/hour. If it is above, the margin is 10%.

Whatever happens, the best way to avoid being caught speeding is to respect the limits.

JoLui
That's a picture of the only one I've ever seen. It gets treated with proper respect, especially as there are also random cameras along the same stretch of road.

Driving to Amboise has never been so stately!

Matt,
We have driven in France often and received a ticket only once, in 2017. We deserved it. There was a fee from the rental car company as well as the ticket fee. It was ostensibly for providing our info (name, address) to the govt. agency issuing the speeding ticket. We got the bill for the ticket a couple of months after our trip, and paid it right away because the charge goes up if not paid within a certain amount of time. We WERE speeding. Our GPS system had a warning that we were over the limit but we ignored it for a short time. Oops! Just assume that there is NO leeway and stay within the speed limit. It isn't difficult once one gets in the habit of paying attention to the signs. We learned the hard way. (Although the ticket wasn't very expensive.) In the past, there weren't as many cameras, so we probably drove too fast more often, but didn't get caught.
As I said, just don't go over the speed limit. Relax and enjoy the scenery. The advice given here regarding toll payments, etc. is good advice. Our credit cards worked well as tap and pay.
Bon voyage and bonne chance!

What about priorite a droit, is that still a thing?

Phred. Kind of - it has to be a VERY rural road for an intersection not to be signposted, but if there is no signpost give way to the right applies.

If you get the priority sign all roads entering will be signposted to either give way or stop.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/529595237407045147/

Assume speed cameras are everywhere because they are. They are more noticeable on the highways, but are at both ends of town when entering or leaving.

Stay at or below the posted limit to avoid receiving a ticket. I once got a ticket in Spain for going 5kph/3mph over the limit when accelerating leaving town. I started to accelerate prior to the limit change sign.

It can take 3-6 months to be notified of an infraction. The rental agency may notify you earlier. It will charge a €25 administrative fee (for each infraction) for providing your information to the authorities. Sometime after that, if the municipal authorities decide to act on the infraction, you’ll get the actual infraction notice in the mail. Fines may be reduced for prompt payment. If you never receive a physical infraction notice in the mail, there’s nothing else to do. No matter what, you’re still on the hook for the rental company administrative fee.

Some rental companies will offer a transponder for a fee. If not, when approaching the toll booths look for the appropriate card, or cash, or both sign. Cash lanes are generally to the right.

Cars rented in France should have a Crit d'Air sticker. That sticker is not valid in other countries.

Almost every town in Europe nowadays has pedestrian only zones. Most are easy to identify. If you’re not sure, don’t enter.

Speed Limit: I think you should learn how to use your cruise control. Speed limits are very logical and predictable but sometimes speed limit signs are gone (e.g. entering a town). Typically, there is a sign, something to the effect of "speed is electronically controlled for your safety" about 1 km (varies) before speed cameras.

I've heard, but don't know, that the grace factor is 4km/hr - which isn't much. I think you're better off sticking as close to the speed limit as possible. The ticket goes up in price the more you exceed the speed limit.

We've used apple maps mostly as our GPS in Europe. It says where speed cameras are. Police still set up speed traps with a portable detector, so you can't rely on signage or a GPS all the time.

Toll booths: I've had more trouble using credit cards in France than any other country. I've (more than a few times) gone through every credit card, twice before a toll booth accepted my payment and let me go. I've had the same problem buying metro tickets, gas, etc. with my cards in France.

Carry some cash with you (no more than 20-euro bills, preferably smaller), and go through a lane with cash and card as an option. This will be my first time with a tap technology card in France (last trip was 2018, next is September). I've used my tap cards in Scandinavia, Finland, Estonia, Germany, Chechia, Hungary, Austria, Spain and Italy (others?) since Covid, with excellent results. I'm expecting the tap option is going to make getting through a toll booth much easier.

Limited local traffic areas haven't been a thing in France (I don't drive in Paris). Italy has them in every city. In France, you will see no entrance signs on roads regularly, but that's for all traffic because it's a one-way road. If you can't drive somewhere, it's been pretty obvious.

Getting Gas: The most convenient gas is on the major toll roads. They have "truck stops" along the road at regular intervals. They are always staffed. If you have any issues with paying, there's a person inside who can help. The cheapest gas is at supermarkets. They have some hours where they are staffed (a kiosk with a person where you can pay) but most hours are done automatically with your credit card. Typically you fill first then pay, which seems odd coming from the US. Again, I expect it will be much easier with a tap card.

I've been to Lyon, Bordeaux and Strasburg. In bigger cities, I typically park my car in a parking lot and leave it until I'm done with the city. In Lyon, I picked up a car on the way out of town and never noticed any local traffic only areas. In Bordeaux, I dropped my car when I got there. They seem to be as traffic friendly as most US cities. In Strasbourg, I parked near the train station and walked in. I could have probably found something closer to the center. The further from center, the lower the cost per hour/day.

Don’t assume that you will see every camera that is out there to catch speeding motorists.
In France, there are unmarked police cars with mounted video cameras inside the police cars. Once a speeding car is detected, the camera is activated and the filming of the speeding vehicle along with its license plate begins.
The speeding driver will never know in real time that this is happening.

If you drive on small country roads through villages, you are likely to be very busy watching the speed limit signs.

Near my house there is a straight road with 8 speed limit changes over a distance of barely 3km (less than 2 miles), I wrote them down: 30km/h - 50km/h - 30km/h - 50km/h - 30km/h - 50km/h - 70km/h - 80km/h.

It is a very popular place for the gendarmes who come from time to time and hide behind a tree with a speed camera. :))

Wow JoLui! A driver could give themselves Whiplash from rapid speed limit changes like that!

Portugal’s rural roads are just as bad with numbers of speed limit changes. One thing I learned quickly was that the limit changes to 30kph when entering any town. I just needed to remember be be at or below 30kph when I passed that sign.

The speed cameras are quite present. I've been caught a few times. Be careful with your speed.

My post is about parking tickets, not speeding tickets. When we were in the Loire Valley last year in Chateauroux, we did not see the blue painted parking space on the ground because the paint was extremely faded. The payage station was hidden behind construction scaffolding. We noticed it when we returned to the car.

Always assume you need to pay to park. Look for the upright payage station, about 4’ tall, it will be nearby but not always close, if you know what I mean.

Hertz notified us and paid what I think was our 70 euro ticket with our credit card on file.

Side note: there were times when we had to use several credit cards at a toll booth before one worked. Be patient and ignore those honking at you.

While we're talking about driving in France, does anyone know the requirements for having to have an International Drivers License to drive a rental car in France? Thanks for any tips!

You don't need an IDP to hire a car.

BUT

If you're from outside the EU or your licence isn't in French, you do need an IDP to drive in France.

From the French Government's own website:

If you come to France for a short stay (for a holiday, for example), you can drive with your non European licence .

Your driving license must meet the following 2 conditions:

1: Be valid
2: Be written in French or be accompanied by an official translation or an international driving license (except for British license)

https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/N19126?lang=en

Matt, Please note that you do not need an International Drivers License, but an International Drivers PERMIT. This is an adjunct to your valid US state drivers license. It is available at AAA for about $20.00. We always get one (they are good for one year), although we have never needed to produce it. It is not worth the risk of a major ticket should the need to produce it arise.
Some folks feel it is a of a rip-off. I disagree. Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.
Bon voyage!

I never get an IDP, and have never heard from anyone who had a problem because they didn't have one in France (conjecture, yes; actual trouble, no). Personally, I think they are a AAA rip-off (why translate everything except your license's expiration date?). Even Rick Steves has stopped recommending them. They are simply not necessary.