Tourist fined for driving golf buggy on public road in south-west France

A Belgian tourist has been fined by police for driving a golf buggy along a public road in south-west France. 

Officers on patrol spotted the buggy trundling along the D7 (departmental road, often similar to B roads in the UK) in the Tarn-et-Garonne department. 

Buggies can only reach a max speed of around 30 km/h, much lower than the limit of D-roads, which can be 90 km/h.

They pulled the vehicle over to question the driver, a 47-year old Belgian tourist who was travelling with a passenger. 

The vehicle was an electric buggy usually used on golf courses which did not have a number plate attached. 

Local media La Dépêche reports that it had been imported to south-west France from Belgium by the tourists to use on their holidays, which the officers reportedly found particularly amusing. 

In France, jokes revolving around a bizarre or ‘dumb’ activity are often called blagues belge with the person at the butt of the joke said to be Belgian due to the friendly rivalry between the countries (as people in the British Isles may joke about each other).

Fine handed out… but no points lost 

The women were surprised that the vehicle was not allowed on the road, despite not having any of the necessary paperwork nor features of a roadworthy vehicle. 

The driver was fined €180, and had to pay for the vehicle to be towed away, as she was not able to drive it back due to it being illegally on the road. 

However, she did not lose any points on her licence for the infraction. 

Vehicles must pass a number of criteria to drive on public French roads, including having a valid registration (‘carte grise’ or certificat d’immatriculation), a roadworthy test if above a certain age, number plates, and be covered by an insurance policy. 

Read more: Too many drivers in France do not have insurance