Laws for using bikes in France:
1. Driving licence; Registration document; Insurance Cert and Accident report form, must be carried when riding.
2. A dipped headlight must be shown in daylight hours.
3. Yellow Gilets are not compulsory to wear for the riding of
motorcyles over 125cc ( 15KW), but are recommended be carried by all
riders and pillions and worn during a breakdown or road side emergency.
4.
Ethylotest breath testers must be carried in/on all motorised vehicles
as of 1st March 2013. The fine for being caught without them has been
repealed by law on 28th Feb 2013.
5.
Filtering or lane splitting in stationary or slow moving traffic is
illegal on the basis that no rule exists in the Code de la Route. The
practice is tolerated to a degree in large urban areas. If caught up in
this, overtake to the left only when pulling out of a lane and do NOT
use high beam headlight. Keep speed very low.
6. Sat Nav systems must comply with the latest regulations, which ban the warning of Safety Camera installations.
I. Future Regulations:-
1.
With the EU Parliament decision to integrate motorcycles into the
mandatory regular testing regulations in 2022, new legislation will be
introduced to cover this requirement.
2.
It was proposed in 2012 by the Maire of Paris, that all motorcycles
over 10 years old are to be banned from the centre of Paris from 2014 in
a bid to clean up air pollution.
3.
It is possible that ‘filtering’ in heavily congested areas like major
city centres may be legalised. An experiment is scheduled to start in
the last 1/4 of 2014.
4.
The CNSR is currently reviewing whether motorcyclists must carry Hi-Viz
Gilets on their bikes to be used in the event of a breakdown or other
incident. This would bring bikers in line with the law currently in
force for other road users.
