New French winter tyre regulations
Spotted on another forum...
Winter tires are mandatory
From November 1, 2021, chains or winter tires are in mountain areas and
48 departments are compulsory
January 20, 2021
While winter tires or all-season tires (M + S with snowflake symbol) are already mandatory in Germany, France has now also extended the winter tire requirement.
Since the departments bordering on Germany are introducing mandatory winter tires, winter tires are mandatory for German holidaymakers from November 1st to March 31st.
The new commitment
From November 1, 2021, Decree 2020-1264, published in the Official Gazette on October 18, 2020, provides:
The new commitments concern light and commercial vehicles, RVs, heavy goods vehicles and coaches that circulate in the areas designated by the prefects. They do not apply to vehicles with studded tires.
Light vehicles, commercial vehicles and mobile homes must either have removable devices (snow chains made of metal or textile) that must be fitted to at least two drive wheels, or the vehicles must be equipped with four winter tires.
Coaches, buses and heavy commercial vehicles without trailers or semi-trailers are also subject to the same obligations as the vehicles mentioned above, with a choice between chains or winter tires.
For now, and until November 1, 2021, special chain-like equipment is required only on the roads where the sign is installed when they are covered with snow.
The decree defines "winter tires" as those tires that bear the marking "M + S" (mud + snow), alone or in conjunction with the "alpine" marking (snowflake), which represents three mountain peaks with a snowflake.
From November 1, 2024, only tires with the well-known snowflake symbol will be considered winter tires. M + S tires without a snowflake symbol are then no longer permitted.
From November 1, 2021, winter tires or chains are mandatory for the entire winter until March 31. A total of 48 departments are affected by this new regulation.
List of departments without guarantee of correctness and completeness:
Ain
Allier
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
Hautes-Alpes
Alpes-Maritimes
Ardeche
Ariège
Aude
Aveyron
Cantal
Côte-d'Or
Creuse
Doubs
Drôme
Eure-et-Loir
Gard
Haute-Garonne
Hérault
Isère
Jura
Loire
Haute-Loire
Lot
Lozère
Meurthe-et-Moselle
Moselle
Nièvre
Puy-de-Dôme
Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Hautes-Pyrénées
Pyrénées-Orientales
Bas-Rhin
Haut-Rhin
Rhône
Haute-Saône
Saône-et-Loire
Savoie
Haute-Savoie
Tarn
Tarn-et-Garonne
Var
Vaucluse
Haute-Vienne
Vosges
Yonne
le Territoire de Belfort
Corse du Sud
Haute-Corse
i was going to try a different, higher crossing this winter but would need a new set of winter tyres..will now stick to Western Route and cross into Spain at sea level nr Irun...cheaper, lol.
Comments
-
The same topic has been covered in the following thread:
The information regarding Germany in the above post is incorrect. There is no prescribed period of time that winter tyres must be fitted. In fact, there is no blanket requirement to fit winter tyres at all. The German requirement is to fit tyres suitable for the prevailing conditions, regardless of time of the year. This may call for winter tyres to be fitted outside the period 1st November to 31st March. Conversely, if the winter is particularly mild, one might get away with not fitting winter tyres altogether.
1 -
For the first year, the new law will apply, but fines will not be issued. For information, the prefecture for the LOT has decided that no areas will fall under the requirement. Fine for us who live here (although we have compliant tyres), but travelling to or through another area where there is a designated region will require correctly marked tyres. The law applies to all cars etc, visitors included. When the law is fully enforced, it will be €135 fine. Pick your route carefully for a winter visit.
3 -
Jim, Pyrenees-Atlantique is certainly a named Department, however it does look like only the upper regions will be affected...a better map would be useful.
I would say that the A63 down to Irun would be OK....I'll now be reverting to this (old favourite) route...
Otherwise, looking at the list, there would be no way to get to Spain overland without updated tyres...
looking again at the map and google maps, I would say anything west of St-Jean-Pied-de-Port looks ok.
2 -
Broad brush? Bit like the LEZ & ULEZ then.
0
