AIBU to think that I DON'T need an International Driving Permit to drive in France in September?

[drivingtofrance]

Driving holiday to France and Belgium in September.

I know that we don't need an IDP until after the UK leaves the EU. (If at all) .

However DM is insistent that we do need one. Apparently (according to the guy in the Post Office) the French police can get sniffy about it and cause troubles.

I am calling bullshit and have looked on the gov.uk driving advice pages, the Eurotunnel page. Also the Post Office pages. But theirs could lead to confusion - I can see that.

So I'm not going to buy them - as we'd need to buy one each for each country - I can save my money for wine. But I thought I'd do a mumsnet AIBU to confirm that I am right - but also just in case any of you have come across any awkward traffic police in France re this matter.

Merci!

No, valid UK license is fine. You do need yellow reflective vests for every seat in the car (5?) and two warning triangles (no idea whether you need ethylotest or not, I have two so maybe worth getting two of those just in case).

Cheers Boo

Yes we have all that stuff- have been driving to France every summer for a few years now.

I figure the only way we will come a cropper is if by some bizarre happening the Brexit is pushed forward into September.

No you don't. But you do need the right stuff for your car - warning triangles, hi-viz for all in the car and 2 valid breathalyser tests. You can get full kits from Amazon relatively cheaply. You need your insurance cert and your V5. All kids under 10 must have "suitable" car seat/restraint. There's a really good page on the RAC website that gives all the info you will need.

Sorry just seen your update, like us your are clearly and old hand at this!

Just to add to my response to make it more relevant to your OP, we were driving in France a few weeks ago and had no issues.

Thanks Treguna

Glad to hear that your trip went smoothly.

I like to think that I am always legal and covered for any eventuality. I ensure that we've got plenty of breakdown cover, insurance for everything etc. But I am drawing the line at this one.

It’s one yellow vest per car, not one per seat.

www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F19459

Also, you can no longer get fined for not having a breathalyzer. The fine was repealed in 2013.

@makingmammaries that’s interesting. We’ve always been told (per Ferry company) that it’s one yellow vest per seat/passenger. And that they have to be on show.

When we’ve travelled to France previously we’ve just fixed the vests to the car seats.

Re the international driving permits, we got them as we went to France for a couple of days in June and at the time of booking Brexit was happening earlier so we paid for them. I didn’t realise you needed one per country though. Although we only went to France.

makingmarries we have a vest each anyway. They are always in the car door pockets even at home

The breathalyser thing was daft. You have to have one -but can't get fined for NOT having one ? Crazy. We always buy a pack though - if nothing else we get to mess about with them once they have passed the expiry date.

@drivingtofrance: yes, breathalyzer mandatory but no sanction. It was an unpopular law and there were suggestions that the breathalyzer manufacturers pushed for it. So the fine was repealed. Plenty of crazy things here in France. I don’t carry one. Full text if you want it:

www.automobile-club.org/actualites/l-auto-et-la-loi/l-ethylotest-a-bord-du-vehicule-de-nouveau-obligatoire

And, for the unwary, the roads that used to have 90 kph limit are 80 kph now, without new signage.

@makingmammaries

got stopped by the police France and they checked that we had a yellow vest each and accessible in the car - which we did have as my parents who live in France warned me - we keep them on the seats in the front and in the door pockets in the rear.

the IDP interests me as I realise now I've been to and hire cars in lots of countries where supposedly you need an IDP but never had one or been asked for on. I think it's just a money-making scheme for the post office

It's one vest per person for Germany but only one per car for France. I bought a pack and left them under the seat even here, makes sense just in case

@lovelyupnorth, the link I gave re yellow vests is a French government website. Not unusual for the gendarmes to be wide of the mark.

@makingmammaries

they were defiantly looking for something to do us for - luckily had all the documents and required items.

DH got an IDP before we left the UK two weeks ago for our annual road trip through Europe. Its not been necessary but he got it just in case. IME we've never been pulled over as we keep to speed limits unlike the locals!

French border control never asked to see it either as we left the UK out of the Euro tunnel.

As pp said, the speed limits on roads without a central divider have dropped to 80kph. SatNavs don't necessarily know this so do be aware. Also the roadside signs that flash up how fast you are going haven't been reset so you can be doing 87 and still have the numbers flash green.

Most of the signage has now changed and is correct - nice litle earner for whoever manufactures speed signs. Ironically, it hasn't had much impact on accidents/fatalities and many departments are now going to revert to 90kph - hope they didn't throw away all the 90 signs.

@lovelyupnorth, back in the day I re-registered my RHD Fiesta in France. One day the gendarmes pulled me over and luckily I had everything in apple-pie order. One of them did ask, however, whether it was permitted to drive an RHD vehicle in France. D’oh! How would I have got it registered otherwise?