Hi,
I am renting a car outside of Paris in late September 2018 and I ran across the requirement to carry a reflective jacket inside the car in case of a mechanical breakdown. I have driven in France numerous times without carrying a reflective jacket (but I have never broken down). Is anybody in this forum following this requirement? It looks like heavy fines can be enforced for non compliance.
Thanks🇺🇸🍷🇫🇷
At the rental desk when picking up your car you should verify that the vehicle comes with a warning triangle and reflective jacket. These items are required in France and if you get a flat tire you must put on the reflective vest before exiting the vehicle. All rental cars should have this equipment, but you should check to be sure. My husband, who does most of the driving, always asks at pickup up and the equipment has always been in the trunk, glove compartment or rear hatch.
Not so much a reflective jacket as a High Visibility Vest (in English - I don't know the American for it) which is a very thin orange or yellow reflective covering to go over clothes. They are very light and can be folded or scrunched up into the seat back pocket. If there are two of you and you will both get out, you need two, in the car. As said, you can't dig around to find it in the boot/trunk, you have to exit the car with them on.
We have always had them in cars we have rented in France -- but they were always in the trunk.
This is a great idea--I think I'll get one for my car here in the States. I've seen the High-Visibility Jackets on constructions workers in London and was impressed at how much brighter and more "visible" they are than the typical ones here.
Thanks all, I’ll hope that the Hertz people at CDG have put the gear in the trunk ( or boot for my UK friends). 😀
great question! We can't remember whether we had the vest in our rental in Provence last summer, but for sure in Portugal they gave us the full scoop on our leased auto. We drove 4 weeks thru portugal , spain and france and I we saw many times everyone had on this vest. It is a great idea and I also want one here in the USA. We will be active in seeing if our rentals in Ireland and Scotland have the vest and will request it if it's not there.
“Is anybody following this requirement?” Yes - it’s the law!
We had a break down last month of our British car in France and whilst it was in the garage, we had a French Hertz rental car, which didn’t have any hi-vis jackets supplied, but we used our own.
One issue is that the Return location clerk may check for the presence of the required items, and try to charge you for any that are missing. This has happened to me - maybe in Spain, rather than France. So after you check the lights and the wipers, and photograph the car to document dents and dings, and check that the cigarette lighter (GPS) outlet fuse isn't blown, then check for locally required items.
I've rented cars dozens of times in France, and while I never specifically checked exactly what items were in the car, there always seemed to be a bunch of stuff in the trunk. Presumably all the required items.
well having them stashed in the rental car trunk is good.... but you saw that the law was to have them on before getting out of the car. Also the warning triangle needs to be set up without opening the trunk - again, you need to have it in the car with you.
Digging around under all your luggage won't please the Gendarme or police(wo)man.
Our Hertz rental car at cdg had all the proper safety equipment for us. It was wrapped up nice and neat and one bundle in place in the back of the vehicle. You’ll be fine.
Thanks Richard. Heading to France in September to watch the Ryder Cup and I don’t need any traffic fines as the tickets were expensive enough!
