French Breath test kits

[onlyme]

Does anybody know if you can purchase these kits from the autoroute fuel service areas. I know they are available in th AA shop at eurotunnel but hoping they might be cheaper in France.

 

[ValA.]

They cheaper at supermarkets in France - one euro each, or at some placed 1.50€ for a twin pack. We just bought one, as it will remain unused in our glove compartment.

 

[MartinLeFour]

There was a piece in the local paper the other day stating the police will be in heavy presence on the main roads out of all ports in the north of France, checking tourists have a kit with them, how true this is i don't know, probably just a bit of scaremongering.
Martin.

 

[SteveW77]

They seem to be taking a much tougher line on everything, I was stopped by the National Gendarme and fined 90 Euros for failing to come to a complete halt at a stop sign. I could see for at least 1/2 a mile in all three directions and the road was completely empty. I must have been doing all of 5mph when I turned right at the cross roads. He got very angry when I demanded a receipt.
Yes I know I was technically braking the law, but I am sure a few years ago all I would have got was a warning to take more care in future.

Steve W

 

[Lutz]

Although the law is in effect as from tomorrow (1st July) French police have been told to issue fines as from the 1st November so anyone travelling this summer has nothing to worry.

 

[JohnGriffiths]

BBC News channel this morning were saying that you need TWO and that they must be of a certain make. As usual when these laws come out the media hype things up but don't actually get the facts straight. Another web site says you must have 1 and another is recommended plus they must be labelled with NF to show they are government approved. Does anyone know the actual requirement?

 

[PaulT]

The advice is that you need 2 so that if you need to use one, the police can't then nick you for not having one! They must have NF on them to be legal in France. Cheapest place to get them is a large supermarket, they should cost about 2€ for a pack of two as opposed to nearly £5 on the ferry.

 

[Sproket]

BBC News channel this morning were saying that you need TWO and that they must be of a certain make. As usual when these laws come out the media hype things up but don't actually get the facts straight. Another web site says you must have 1 and another is recommended plus they must be labelled with NF to show they are government approved. Does anyone know the actual requirement?

Watch this .............
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18662555

Article R234-7

• Created by Decree No. 2012-284 of 28 February 2012 - art. A

Every driver of a land motor vehicle, except a moped, must prove the possession of a breath test, not used, available immediately. The breathalyzer in the first paragraph meets the conditions of validity, including expiration date, provided by its manufacturer. It shall have a certification mark or marking of the manufacturer stating its compliance to a model receiving a certificate of compliance with standards whose references are published in the Official Journal of the French Republic. shall be considered as meeting the obligation under the first paragraph, the driver of a vehicle equipped with an approved professional or building a immobilizer by electronic breathalyser approved in accordance with Article L. 234-17 and the driver of a bus with an alcohol interlock device under the conditions laid down in Article R. 317-24 .

 

[JohnGriffiths]

So if you only carry one breathalyzer, you have a drink, use the kit which shows negative, drive off, get pulled up and fined for not having a kit.
But if you decide not to use it, you still test negative on the police kit but have no penalty because you still have the kit. Sounds like another law that hasn't been thought through.
However, If you're saying the law is that you carry ONE, then that's what I'm interested in, I wouldn't risk driving over there after drinking anyway. But I'm concerned that the BBC are yet again quoting incorrect facts, they definitely said this morning you need two and although it is not repeated in Sprockets link, it is on the Channel 4 News :-
Car accessory retailer Halfords said it is selling one kit every minute of the day, and has rushed extra stock into stores to cope with the unprecedented demand.
Six out of 10 Britons travelling to France are not aware they have to carry two French government-approved breathalysers - showing the symbol NF - at all times, according to the company.

 

[ValA.]

The breathalysers are widely available in France, and are often packaged in twos - though you can get single ones. As one poster suggests, if you do use one test then you have another to comply with the law, but if you NEVER use it then you only need one!
Most of rural France seems to be completely unaware of this new 'Law' and there have been few mentions of it in the press or on TV according to my friend who lives in France! His neighbours thought he was joking when he mentioned it!

 

[DeliDave_]

We were in France on 1st July and didnt see any for sale or notices about it .Also the only people we saw with fluorescent vests hanging on seats were english cars,French ones didnt have them visible although they could have been in boot or whatever

 

[anotherDavid]

I am just back from France and enquired in 3 supermarkets and 3 pharmacies and none had any stock or knew when they would get any.
Dave

 

[Brum1]

Are they for self testing or to be used by the police at roadside checks instead of them having to buy their own?

 

[ValA.]

Self-testing! But if you don't drink and drive you never need use one!

 

[JoannaLesley]

We bought ours some time ago via Amazon, although they have only just arrived. About £10 for a pack of 5 I think. We didn't want to find ourselves stopped by an officious plod just as we left the port and then having to explain in poor French that we didn't have to carry them yet.
I understood that they were both for self-use and also for use by the police if you are stopped - hence the need for 2. Apparently it's a savings thing!
I have also read somewhere in the past week or so (it could have been on this forum) that the police are focussing on foreign (for that, read British) drivers leaving the northern ports for spot checks. If they've bothered to stop you for one thing, such as breathalysers, they will also check everything else, in my view - GB sticker; fluorescent jackets; headlight converters; red triangle etc. etc. That could be interesting - have you ever noticed how many people don't have a GB sticker or number plate and also how many have lights, number plate and so on obscured by bikes on the back?

Jo

 

[JonnyG]

We bought ours some time ago via Amazon, although they have only just arrived. About £10 for a pack of 5 I think. We didn't want to find ourselves stopped by an officious plod just as we left the port and then having to explain in poor French that we didn't have to carry them yet.
I understood that they were both for self-use and also for use by the police if you are stopped - hence the need for 2. Apparently it's a savings thing!
I have also read somewhere in the past week or so (it could have been on this forum) that the police are focussing on foreign (for that, read British) drivers leaving the northern ports for spot checks. If they've bothered to stop you for one thing, such as breathalysers, they will also check everything else, in my view - GB sticker; fluorescent jackets; headlight converters; red triangle etc. etc. That could be interesting - have you ever noticed how many people don't have a GB sticker or number plate and also how many have lights, number plate and so on obscured by bikes on the back?

Jo

hi jo, you only need one unused tester, as its for personal use and not for use by the police.as for those hyped stories focusing on the stoping foreiners,"re british" i herd something similar well i hear it every year the germans say the french police are focusing on them the belguims say the same thing, infact have a friend in the provance area who says the french police up north always focus on the people from the south! amazing stuff realy, just how focused these french police officers are!

 

[JohnM20]

Like 'another David' we are just back from France and, despite looking in every supermarket we went into, we couldn't find any. They go under the name 'Ethytest' apparently. One supermarket had them advertised at 4€ 20 for two but had no stock. Someone else on our campstite had also been trying and had been told by staff on the Accueil desk in the supermarket that they didn't have any and didn't know when they would be getting any.
DFDS Ferries had some in stock but at the rip off price of £5.99 for two, (Halfords are £4.99 for 2).
If the French public are true to form and they don't like the law they will just ignore it, as they do with others, and it will then go away.