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How You Lose Your License In France |
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File under Travel France
Author: Mike Werner
Location: Normandy, France
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As mentioned many times before in articles on this site, France (as other European countries) have a point system for driving licenses.
The more you get caught, the more points you get. Points are taken back after three years !
You start with 0 points on your license, and for every time they catch you, you get a certain number of points. Once you've reach 12 points, you loose your driving license.
It is possible to deduct some points by going to a special "sensitivity" training day. This can only be done once. You can reduce half the points you've got with one of these trainings.
You can loose your license for three years, and then you need to pass your tests again, something not that easy.
So here's a recap on what they'll do when they catch you....i.e., here's the points you get for doing something stupid..
1 Point - Partially driving over a continuous white line
- Driving 20 kilometers over the speed limit
2 Points - Driving 20 - 30 kilometers over the speed limit
- Accelerating while being taken over by another vehicle
- Driving or stopping on the island sections between roads on an autoroute
- Using a telephone with your hands
- Using a radar detector
3 Points - Driving in the left lane while not passing
- Driving over a continuous white line
- Changing lanes or direction without assuring that there is no danger
- Overtaking dangerously
- Not respecting the legal distance between vehicles
- Stopping or parking dangerously
- Stopping/Parking at night or during bad weather, when there is no outside lights, and not turning on your own parking lights
- Driving on the autoroute emergency lane
- Not having your seat-belt on
- On a motorcycle, not having a helmet, or wearing a non-homologated helmet
- Driving outside the restrictions of your driving license
4 Points - Not giving priority (cars, pedestrians)
- Not stopping at a Stop sign, or a red light
- Driving 40-50 kilometers over the speed limit
- Driving at night or in fog without adequate lights
- Driving backwards on an autoroute
- Driving the wrong way on a one-way street
6 Points - Driving 50 kilometers over the speed limit
- Driving with more than 0.5 gr/liter of alcohol in the blood
- Involuntary manslaughter, or involuntary corporal wounding another driver so they can never work again
- Refusing alcohol testing
- Hit & Run
- Refusing to stop when summoned by the authorities
- Hindering traffic
- Using fake license plates
- Driving under influence of drugs
So if you've drunken 2 glasses of wine, driving through a tunnel without your lights on while driving 25 kph over the limit..... you've just lost your driving license for three years !! Nasty !!!
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| Legacy (Old) Comments |
1) Richard said on:
(14/02/2006 11:18:03 GMT)
email:Richard | website:
http://www.oldguy.usYeah, but...
I imagine that unlike here in the US, authorities in France manage to keep idiots like this off the road: HELENA, Montana - A man with 20 drunken driving convictions was found guilty in federal court of smashing into a man on a motorcycle while drunk.
2) Mike Werner said on:
(14/02/2006 12:17:09 GMT)
email:Mike Werner | website:
http://motorbiker.orgre: Yeah, but...
There are idiots anywhere in the world. I'm afraid this restrictions will stop the majority of people of doing stupid things, but there will always be those that do anything they please. In the US you don't have these draconian laws, but then on the other hand, you can get sued for billions, something that's not possible here. Both are deterants.
3) said on:
(14/02/2006 17:33:11 GMT)
email: | website:
How You Loose Your License In France
Using a telephone with your hands - 2pts... Applause
4) Schtum said on:
(14/02/2006 19:47:59 GMT)
email: | website:
How You Loose Your License In France
It's not "loose", that means the opposite of "tight". It's "lose". Just think of me as the UK equivalent of l'Académie Française.....
5) Schtum said on:
(14/02/2006 19:50:30 GMT)
email: | website:
How You Loose Your License In France
Bloody duff encoding. Je veux dire...l'Academie Francaise.
6) Mike Werner said on:
(14/02/2006 20:16:29 GMT)
email:Mike Werner | website:
http://motorbiker.org
Oops (or is it ops)... type and of course the spell check is useless here... thanks
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