Cliffy Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Copied this from wild camping forum. The Ministry statement, translated, said: "The Minister of the Interior announced the postponement of the requirement for a breathalyzer test in the case of traffic during a press conference Thursday, January 24, 2013. The possession of a breathalyzer test failure was to be punished by a fine of 11 euros from March 1, 2013. A decree had been issued to this effect in the Official Journal of Tuesday, October 30, 2012." In French, the Minister is reported to have said: "Je reporte sine die" l'obligation d'avoir un éthylotest dans les voitures." Manuel Valls a décidé de décider sans trancher: c'est le Conseil national de la sécurité routière qui devra se prononcer sur l'utilité de cette mesure. La décision du groupe de travail sur l'alcool au volant au sein de ce Conseil doit rendre sa conclusion d'ici la fin février. Des éthylotests controversés Une annonce qui intervient après une série de revirements sur la question depuis l'adoption du texte par le précédent gouvernement. Elle intervient alors que plusieurs études pointaient ces dernière semaines des problèmes de fiabilité sur plusieurs éthylotests présents sur le marché. Sounds like makers of the breathelisers are not giving the politcians a big enough back hander. >:-) or may be they have realised it is unworkable in practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Cliffy - 2013-01-26 9:01 PM ...Sounds like makers of the breathelisers are not giving the politcians a big enough back hander. >:-) or may be they have realised it is unworkable in practice. I don't believe there was any question of the French breathalyser law being "unworkable" (and your "backhander" comment is just plain silly). Forum members will be aware that there have been supply-and-demand problems with breathalysers in France, but these should have been satisfactorily resolved by now. What has become evident though is the inaccuracy/reliability of the cheap disposable breathalysers, with one Which?-style test's findings suggesting that one in two may be faulty or false-read. http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/community/discussions/caravan-sites/overseas-sites/French-breathalyser-law-postponed/rt/344012/?showlatest=true& http://www.thisfrenchlife.com/thisfrenchlife/2013/01/alcohol-breathalyser-law-suspended.html and a good cartoon here: http://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2013/01/24/manuel-valls-annule-ethylotest-obligatoire_n_2540163.html?utm_hp_ref=france Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 This was always a 'Stupid Knee jerk' law in reaction to French drivers insisting on driving when they were drunk, making EVERYONE carry an unreliable test device (even if they were teatotal !) when what SHOULD be done is Jail everyone caught Drink Driving, plus a couple of year ban, would have been a more 'thought out' answer. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Saved myself a couple of Euro's then B-).....................That's two bottles of Cava down here :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 The French have a very good viewpoint regarding laws. "Rules are for foreigners" pretty well sums it up. And us Brits are suckers for following the rules. Just look in a French restaurant and see how effective the anti-smoking law is. That lasted less than a year! (And i don,t smoke OK) Vive La France C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Have to agree with you Clive I find it annoying to have a smoker blowing/waving smoke my way when eating. I thought the law was a EU one? In which case one ought to be able to insist that they move (Ha Ha) Would one be able to take it to the EU court ? It's about time some-one made the French fall in line! Think I had better skip France this year, and go the other direction! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Tha\nks for the info "Cliffy" I am glad I coudln't find one to buy in France! I well remember a small French vilage and a wedding, the entire village were drunk including the local policemean and drove around the village for about an hour with the horns blaring.Including the police car! The fact is once you leave the RNs you don't see a policeperson, just like over here, so everyone carries on as usual. H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Clive - 2013-01-27 10:23 AM The French have a very good viewpoint regarding laws. "Rules are for foreigners" pretty well sums it up. And us Brits are suckers for following the rules. Just look in a French restaurant and see how effective the anti-smoking law is. That lasted less than a year! (And i don,t smoke OK) Vive La France C. This is the Wikipedia entry relating to the French 'no smoking' laws: "Smoking is banned in all public places (stations, museums, etc.); an exception exists for special smoking rooms fulfilling strict conditions, as below. However, a special exemption was made for cafés and restaurants, clubs, casinos, bars, etc. until 1 January 2008, although the French government allowed a day of reflection on New Year's Day. Opinion polls suggest 70% of people support the ban. However, a 2009 story by Time Magazine suggested that some smokers were blatantly ignoring the smoking ban due to lax enforcement. Under the new regulations, smoking rooms are allowed, but are subjected to very strict conditions: they may occupy at most 20% of the total floor space of the establishment and their size may not be more than 35 m²; they need to be equipped with separate ventilation that replaces the full volume of air ten times per hour; the air pressure of the smoking room must constantly be lower than the pressure in the contiguous rooms; they must have doors that close automatically; no service can be provided in the smoking rooms; and cleaning and maintenance personnel may enter the room only one hour after it was last used for smoking. Previously, under the former implementation rules of the 1991 Évin law, restaurants, cafés etc. just had to provide smoking and non-smoking sections, which in practice were often not well separated. In larger establishments, smoking and non-smoking sections could be separate rooms, but often they were just areas within the same room. A legal challenge against the new regulations was filed before the Conseil d'État in 2007, but was rejected." We visit France 3 or 4 times per annum. When the smoking ban was applied to French bars/restaurants in 2008, I remember visiting a few where the law was being blatently ignored. However, in recent years (say, from 2010 onwards) I've never seen anyone smoking inside a French bar or restaurant where drink/food is being served. I have seen people smoking while eating at tables outside French bars and restaurants (and, in one instance, smoking in a French bar/restaurant's 'annexe' from which all the windows had been removed), but that's another matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs T Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 The French nation have one great asset they don't speak English or American English. MT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesFrance Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Derek Uzzell - 2013-01-27 9:36 AM Cliffy - 2013-01-26 9:01 PM ...Sounds like makers of the breathelisers are not giving the politcians a big enough back hander. >:-) or may be they have realised it is unworkable in practice. I don't believe there was any question of the French breathalyser law being "unworkable" (and your "backhander" comment is just plain silly). People in France don't seem to agree with you. There is a campaign which claims that the introduction of these objects was entirely driven by their makers. I would never trust a politician to put the public first when there is money to be made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggyd Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 If anyone drinks and drives they deserve to be prosecuted :-S but like here if you are stopped and are over the limit you should have the book thrown at you !! And making everyone even no drinkers carry Breathalyzers with them is over the top in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Clive - 2013-01-27 10:23 AM The French have a very good viewpoint regarding laws. "Rules are for foreigners" pretty well sums it up. And us Brits are suckers for following the rules. Just look in a French restaurant and see how effective the anti-smoking law is. That lasted less than a year! (And i don,t smoke OK) Vive La France C. LOL.........not only the French Clive, but the same in Germany and Austria. It's only the UK who went totally overboard on the smoking laws......which interestingly you describe as "anti- smoking, as that's precisely the problem here. The anti-smoke Fascists. Non-smokers don't cause any problems......it's the anti lot. They shot themselves in the foot though as they were too thick and stupid to see the bigger picture that the drinkers would be next in line for a bashing. Strange though how you become 'conditioned' after years of ceaseless draconian anti-smoke 'laws'. I was on a site in Austria a couple of years ago when the weather suddenly changed and everyone dashed inside the Coffee bar. I looked around and noticed people smoking.........wow! I asked the non-smoker site owner at the bar if I was OK to smoke and she looked at me as though i'd come off another planet and said, "of course......why not......you don't need to ask me". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesFrance Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Fortunately they don't allow smoking in Spain now, so we will enjoy our dinner this evening in the Mandarin Chinese in Benidorm without having to disinfect our clothes afterwards. So much nicer than when they just had different areas for smokers as it still permeated the whole place then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zydeco Joe Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Is this the reason why some of use love the French.LOL They dont like a rule change so they change it back or in this case throw the law away. Was told by a French garage owner last September this would happen and low and behold it has. Vive la France............. We asked for a breatherliser kit in about 25 shops over 3 trips of about 18 weeks in France in the last year and none were for sale.So glad we did not find one LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 The French breathalyser law has not been "thrown away". It's still on the books and it still applies (in principle) to all motorists driving in France. What has been postponed sine die is the date when the French police could begin to fine motorists for non-compliance. Whether the 'fining-date' is ever specified in future remains to be seen and will probably depend on the conclusions of the CNSR (Conseil National de la Sécurité Routière). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave225 Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Mind you I am very worried about the new 75% tax law. Discussed it with the wife and am thinking of getting Russian citizenship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerC Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 JamesFrance - 2013-01-27 5:34 PMFortunately they don't allow smoking in Spain now, so we will enjoy our dinner this evening in the Mandarin Chinese in Benidorm without having to disinfect our clothes afterwards. So much nicer than when they just had different areas for smokers as it still permeated the whole place then. I agree smoke does cling...but 'disinfect'? As for the French approach....I was once told by a very nice well educated Frenchman....'Monsieur if we French think a law is stupid...it does not exist'......IMO a nice approach given all the idiotic diktats spewing from Brussels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesFrance Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 RogerC - 2013-01-29 8:32 PM I agree smoke does cling...but 'disinfect'? Ah yes, I post on internet security forums and that is what they call restoring a file to it's original uncorrupted state. Maybe defumigate would have been better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Perhaps Cliffy's comment about back-handers is not too far fetched as I believe the manufacturers have politicians as friends. Another reason for the postponement is that unhealthy substances have been found in the breathalyers and there are worries about their eventual disposal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Patricia You provided a link in an earlier breathalyser-related thread to this newspaper article http://www.connexionfrance.com/breath-test-breathalyser-Contralco-Orgeval-13885-view-article.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 So I did, Derek!! You have a fantastic filing system! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith T Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Having just picked up on this thread, I am now totally confused........(easily done, I know!) Are we safe to accept that - for now anyway- we do NOT need to obtain/carry a breathalizer kit (ir two)? How do we get some firm fact and evidence to confirm this? Can we expect some advice from the UK Government or Caravan Club/AA or similar body? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
globebuster Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 For the sake of potential hassle with something this ambigious - just carry a couple in the glove box! Why speculate for the sake of a fiver? That way you cover all eventualities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Keith T - 2013-01-31 8:26 PM Having just picked up on this thread, I am now totally confused........(easily done, I know!) Are we safe to accept that - for now anyway- we do NOT need to obtain/carry a breathalizer kit (ir two)? How do we get some firm fact and evidence to confirm this? Can we expect some advice from the UK Government or Caravan Club/AA or similar body? I'm not sure why you might think the UK governement should now advise UK motorists about the French breathalyser law as (to the best of my knowledge) the govenment has never done this in the past (nor advised on other French motoring laws like the requirement to carry a hiigh-visibility jacket and warning-triagle). As the latest open-ended postponement of the 'prosecution-date' for non-compliance with the French breathalyser law was only announced a week ago, it's too early to expect the Caravan Club or other UK motoring organistions to provide advice in their magazines regarding the latest position. However, there's plenty of information on-line about it, including this http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/community/discussions/caravan-sites/overseas-sites/French-breathalyser-law-postponed/rt/344012/ The current position (according to French press statements) is that the French Council for Road Safety has been told to report (by the end of February 2013) on how effective they believe the breathalyser law is likely to be in reducing the number of alchohol-related road accidents. The prosecution-date previously announced was 1 March 2013, but, as the Road Safety Council's report won't be available until end-February, there's certain to be another prosecution-date postponement of several months even if their report advised that the breathalyser law should be an effective road-safety measure. The French law never demanded that a motorist carry more than one breathalyser in his/her vehicle. In response to your question "Are we safe to accept that - for now anyway- we do NOT need to obtain/carry a breathalizer kit...?" the simple answer is that there is currently NO RISK of being prosecuted while driving in France for not carrying a breathalyser in your vehicle, and this NO RISK situation will continue indefinitely until the French authorities decide otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
globebuster Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Assumption - the mother of all cock-ups! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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