Penalties for driving offences in France are often fixed according to the category of the law which has been broken.
The lowest level are contraventions, mid-level ones are délits, and the most serious are crimes.
Contraventions are usually dealt with by admission of guilt, the paying of a fine and, depending on the offence, the loss of points on a driving licence.
They can be challenged, but the chances of success are slim without hiring a specialist lawyer.
There are a handful of high-profile traffic offence lawyers in France. Some offer web services for a payment equal to the fine but likely to save points being taken off a licence.
Speeding and driving under the influence of either drink or drugs (or both) are the road safety classifications where the law is most likely to be broken.
Read more: How do driving penalties work for foreign licence holders in France?
Five main speed limits
There are five main speed limits fixed by the government in France: 130km/h for autoroutes (depending on conditions), 110km/h for dual carriageways with a central reservation, 90km/h for sections of road where there are at least two lanes in the same direction, 80km/h for single carriageways, and 50km/h in built-up areas, marked by signs with the commune’s name.
Drivers on a provisional licence have lower limits.
Local authorities can, on some roads, raise the 80km/h national limit to 90km/h, and reduce the speed in built-up areas to 30km/h.
Penalties and points lost are codified. In France, drivers start with 12 points on their licence (six for provisional licences), with points subsequently deducted depending on the offence.
If you speed in town (50km/h limit or lower), and you are 5km/h or less over, the fine is €135 and no points are taken off. For speeds of between 5km/h and 19km/h in excess of the limit, the fine is the same but you lose one point. Nearly all fines are reduced for quick payment, and increased for late payment.
If caught speeding on roads where the limit is over 50km/h, the fine is €68 for speeds up to 5km/h above, with no points lost. The same fine is issued, plus one point lost, for being between 5km/h and 19km/h over the limit.
Between 20km/h and 49km/h over the limit, the number of points lost increases with every 10km/h, and the fine is €135. Over 50km/h, the fixed penalties disappear and fines can increase to €1,500, and points lost to six.
You also cross the line from simple contravention to aggravated contravention or even délit territory if you are more than 30km/h over the limit. This means additional penalties, such as attendance at a stage de sensibilisation (road-awareness course), suspension of your licence for up to three years, or confiscation of the vehicle. A judge will decide.
Read more: Did you know? Slow drivers can be fined in France
Drink-driving and mobile use
France has a lower drink-driving limit than the UK or US. You are not allowed to drive with more than 0.5g alcohol per litre of blood. For most people, two beers or two glasses of wine will put you over the limit.
If you fail an alcohol test but the reading is below 0.8g/litre in a blood test, the fine is usually €135, and you lose six points. Once you are over 0.8g/litre the offence becomes a délit, with judges fining up to €4,500 and considering jail terms of two years. At least six points are lost.
Most sentences are lighter for first-time offenders, but may also include licence suspensions, community service, a road-awareness course, or fitting a breath test starting device to your car.
French road safety laws also prohibit holding and using a mobile phone while driving. This includes texting, calling, or filming. Even if the vehicle is stopped in traffic, or on the hard shoulder, it is still considered an offence if the engine is running.
Hands-free kits are permitted, provided they do not require handling the phone. However, mounting a phone to a dashboard and recording video, especially for social media, can fall into a legal grey area and will typically be treated as an offence if considered a distraction or if it involves any interaction with the device. The only exception on recording is for dashcams that film the road ahead.
A hi-vis gilet de securité, a warning triangle, legal tyres, a clear windscreen and working lights are all compulsory when driving in France. Not having, or not using, these can result in fines of up to €750, except for lights where the maximum fine is €450. Not having a clear windscreen can also lose three points from your licence.
Disobeying the rules of the road by tailgating, not giving way, straying over solid white lines or similar offences can also result in a mix of fines and loss of points.
Read more: ‘Careful’ road signs appearing in French towns and villages: what do they mean?
Parking offences
In terms of parking, local councils are free to fix both the price of parking and keep a larger part of parking fines. Private firms are used by many municipalities to enforce the rules.
Parking on the road in a way which endangers others is a police or gendarme-enforced offence: the fine is €135 with three points lost. Stationnement très gênant (roughly translated as serious obstruction) has a €135 fine and the vehicle can be towed away; stationnement gênant has a €35 fine; and stationnement abusif, where a car is left in the same parking spot, without moving, for more than seven days, also has a €35 fine but the vehicle can be towed away.
Stages de sensibilisation can be taken by people who have lost points and want to recover them more quickly. It usually takes six months to recover each point, as long as no other offence is recorded in that time. By taking a stage de sensibilisation you can recover up to four points at the end of the training, and take one stage a year.
The courses are run in groups by driving schools, and spread over two consecutive, seven-hour days. They usually cost €200. Two modules are covered – general road safety, and specific risks, usually linked to the offences for which points have been lost. There is no exam at the end, but if trainers feel participants are not taking things seriously, or if they do not turn up on time, they can issue failure notices.
