Driving in France: What are the offences that cost you penalty points on your French licence?

French drivers don’t exactly have the best reputation, but that doesn’t mean that there are no rules in place on the roads in France. Here’s a guide to driving offences and how many points they will cost you if you have a French licence.

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The first thing to note is that the points system in France is based on deduction – while in the UK you start with a ‘clean’ licence and have points added on if you commit offences, drivers in France have points taken off.

Newly qualified drivers in France start off with six points on their licence and get an extra two for every year that they don’t commit any traffic offences until they reach the maximum number of 12.

If you exchange a foreign licence for a French one you start off with the maximum 12, but if you are in a situation where you have to take a test in France you will start off with six.

Points are then deducted for traffic offences until you reach zero – at which point your licence can be taken away.

Those living in France but driving with an EU licence are normally forced to exchange it for a French one if they commit a serious driving offence (but this often depends on the gendarmes), while drivers who have a licence from a non-EU country usually have to exchange it after one year of residence – full details here.

So what can you lose points for in France?

Drinking

Drink drive limits in France are lower than many other countries, which can catch visitors out. The limit is 0.5 grams per litre of blood, equivalent to just one small glass of wine or beer. For learner drivers the limit is 0.2 g/l.

France has a bit of a problem with drink drivers, especially in rural areas where it is often seen as socially acceptable and you will frequently see people do it. However that doesn’t mean that it’s legal and saying that everyone else in the bar was also about to drive will cut no ice at all with the gendarmes if you get stopped.

Driving with a blood alcohol of 0.5g/l to 0.8g/l is a class four infraction while the offences below all count as a crime. But it will still earn you 6 points off your licence

Driving with blood alcohol of more than 0.8g/l or in a state of obvious drunkenness – 6 points

Refusing to submit to a breathalyser or blood test – 6 points

Driving after drug use or refusing to take a drug test – 6 points

Repeat driving offence with a blood alcohol level equal to or greater than 0.8 g/litre of blood or in a state of obvious drunkenness/ or repeat driving after drug use – loss of licence

There is also a separate offence for people who have had a history of drink driving.

In 2019 a law was introduced which allowed drink drivers in certain circumstances the choice between either losing their licence immediately or agreeing to have their car fitted with an ignition breathalyser which will not allow the car to be started unless the driver has provided a clear breath test. More info here.

Drivers must pay out of their own pocket (about €1,000) to have them fitted and during the agreed period must not be caught behind the wheel of any car that does not have the device fitted.

Speeding

Breaking the speed limit will also net you points, especially in areas where there are lots of speed cameras, and how many points you lose depends on how much you were exceeding the speed limit by.

Breaking the limit by less than 20 km/h – 1 point

Breaking the limit by more than 20km/h if the limit is under 50km/h – 1 point

Breaking the limit by between 20km/h and 30km/h – 2 points

Breaking the limit by between 30 km/h and 40 km/h – 3 points

Breaking the limit by between 40km/h and 50 km/h – 4 points

Breaking the limit by more than 50 km/h – 6 points

Possession, transport or use of any equipment designed to disrupt or detect speed controls – 6 points

The final point generally refers to speed camera detecting radars or phone apps but in some areas, especially rural ones, you will see drivers flashing their lights at you to warn that gendarmes are up ahead with a speed camera and this too is technically illegal.

Standard sat-nav or online mapping systems which show the presence of a speed camera are allowed, it’s the ones that track cameras – both fixed and mobile – in real time which are banned.

As of 2024, those who broke the limit by less than 5 km/h will usually not receive any points.

It’s also worth pointing out that if you’re doing something particularly ridiculous like driving at 90 km/h past a children’s playground while watching a video on your phone this would come under the heading of dangerous driving, which can attract much stiffer penalties.

And if you are considered to be ‘going too fast for the circumstances’ (eg rain or stormy weather), then you may not have points deduced but you could be fined a 4th class fine (€135).

Traffic and parking offences

You might see some of these committed on a more or less daily basis, particularly if you live in Paris, but they are in fact illegal

Driving on an unbroken white line on the road – 1 point

Accelerating while someone is trying to overtake you – 2 points

Driving in the left hand lane (fast lane) on a dual carriageway when the right hand lane is free – 3 points

Dangerous overtaking (sometimes shown by red lines) – 3 points

Crossing an unbroken white line on the road – 3 points

Not respecting a safe distance between vehicles (this can increase in ‘dangerous zones’, like tunnels) – 3 points

Changing direction without indicating – 3 points

Driving on emergency lanes (hard shoulder) – 3 points

Dangerous parking – 3 points

Refusing to give way to a driver who has priority – 4 points

Going through a red light, a stop sign or give way sign without stopping – 4 points

Driving in a forbidden area (eg a pedestrianised zone) – 4 points

Driving at night without sufficient lighting – 4 points

Failure to give way to a pedestrian who is on a crossing, or a pedestrian at a crossing who clearly intends to cross – 6 points

Driving while disqualified or suspended – 6 points

Accidental injury to a person causing them to lose three months or more of work – 6 points

Phones and dashcams

It is illegal to use a handheld mobile phone while driving, this covers any use of the phone – making or receiving a call, messaging, looking something up on the internet or photographing/filming with your phone.

More than 100 drivers were spotted by police filming or photographing a crash scene on a French motorway, and all received penalty notices. Naturally this only applies to drivers, not passengers.

It is also illegal to use a phone with headphones (either for making a call or listening to music/podcasts) although using a hands-free kit that connects to the car’s speakers is OK.

All of the above offences will cost you 3 points – unless you are driving in one of the local authority areas that is running a pilot scheme to suspend the licences of people caught using a phone while driving.

The use of dashcams in France is a bit of a grey area, although this relates to the country’s privacy laws rather than the highway code. In general it’s thought to be OK to use a dashcam, but publishing the footage (including on social media) could put you in breach of privacy laws if the film shows any other road users.

Others

Failure to wear a seat belt – 3 points

Failure to respect the transparency of windows or windscreen (ie having too dark a tint) – 3 points

Transporting more passengers than the vehicles has places for – 3 points

Sources: Service-publique.fr; Sécurité Routière

Dangerous driving

And of course dangerous driving is an offence as well.

The French Highway Code, Article R412-6, states: “The driver must at all times adopt a cautious and respectful behaviour vis-à-vis other road users, particularly vulnerable road users.

“Every driver must be constantly in a state of readiness and in a position to execute all the manoeuvres required of him/her immediately.

“His/her freedom of movement and field of vision must not be reduced by the number or position of passengers, by the objects carried or by the affixing of non-transparent objects to the windows.”

So things like eating, smoking and putting on make-up at the wheel are not in themselves illegal, but if an officer judges that you are not in control of your vehicle you could face a fine of up to €150. In extreme cases police can also seize your vehicle.

Fines

As well as getting points on your licence, most of the offences above will also earn you a fine ranging from €33 for the least serious offences to €1,500 for the most serious – or €3,000 if you are a repeat offender. Swift payment can reduce the amount to be paid for some classes of offence.

Some offences may only lead to fines, like failing to use snow tyres in required areas.

If you have lost enough points that you are in danger of losing your licence, you can apply to go on a two-day driver re-education course. You pay a fee to attend – between €100 and €200 depending on where you are – but if you complete the course to the satisfaction of the instructor you can have some points cancelled.

Breathalysers

One thing that is not illegal in France, however, is not having your own portable breathalyser kit in the car. This was initially proposed as a law, but was never subject to a fine. It has since been quietly dropped and now drivers no longer have to carry disposable breathalysers in their cars.

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