Hi

We plan to drive to south west France in the Yeti later this year. I know that we don't need to stick beam modifiers / anti glare stickers to the lamps as Skoda took care of that with a menu setting. However, as I understand it, we are supposed to have a set of spare lamps in the vehicle.

Do the police expect to see a full set of lamps including HID headlamps? Or do people just take a generic set of spares?

Thanks.

Baldbloke.

Just a general set of bulbs.

And to be honest I've never heard of anyone ever having been checked!

Don't forget the breathalyser. Buy in Calais for 1€

And don't forget to update your sat nav to remove speed cameras - €1500 fine

And don't forget your hi vis tabbards, must be carried in the car not the boot, it's an offence to get out the car without one on on the motorway.

Just a general set of bulbs.

And to be honest I've never heard of anyone ever having been checked!

Don't forget the breathalyser. Buy in Calais for 1€

Personally I would buy two, if you need to use it then get stopped again you would not have another to use again - you know how petty the French can be about things like that!

And don't forget your hi vis tabbards, must be carried in the car not the boot, it's an offence to get out the car without one on on the motorway.

I only keep 1 inside the car, if I broke down then put the jacket on and retrieve the rest from the boot to give to your passengers before they alight from the car.

Thanks,

Have hi-viz jackets - they will be in the front with us. Breathylser ordered. Don't have sat nav to worry about but thanks for the tip!

Baldbloke

It's also compulsory to carry a warning triangle, advisory to carry a fire extinguisher, and first aid kit and don't cross a solid white line when joining or exiting the motorway it's an on the spot fine. The police are red hot on that one.

I was looking into a spare bulb kit for a planned continental trip, but considering I had a set for a corsa from years ago, and a set for the x-trail I traded in for the Yeti, both of which have never been touched paying out £14+ that people seem to want for a Yeti bulb kit seems a bit ridiculous, I think i'll just take one of the old bulb kits just in case my luck does run that way! Having seen how much cheaper Skoda accessories seem to be abroad I can always pick a set up there!

Thanks for thne reminder redcar_reds, must remember to remove the triangle & GB sticker from the boot before exchanging cars!

OK, so you've got all the legally required bits. You get stopped because one of your lights is not working, you show your bulb kit, all ok so far, but will they let you drive on to a garage to get the bulb replaced, because if you have'nt done it before you won't be able to do it at the roadside yourself, and indicator bulbs cannot be done without taking the front off the vehicle.

Surely they'd let you off Xenons due to cost?

OK, so you've got all the legally required bits. You get stopped because one of your lights is not working, you show your bulb kit, all ok so far, but will they let you drive on to a garage to get the bulb replaced, because if you have'nt done it before you won't be able to do it at the roadside yourself, and indicator bulbs cannot be done without taking the front off the vehicle.

I've no idea! How hard is it to chance a HID lamp on the Yeti? If it's anything like my Mazda 3 it involves dismantaling the front of the car, not something to do at the road side.

I have two sets of lamps for previous vehicles so I'll take them and hope.

People worry too much.

We've been going to France for years and have never been stopped by the Police, and have plenty of friends exactly the same, so in general as long as you have the basic stuff and don't break their Laws then you won't have a problem. If you are a prat and get stopped for doing something wrong then you MAY get searched and checked, but then you deserve it.

Mind you, driving through Brittany with a Welsh flag prominently displayed does seem to help! We drove through two road blocks one Sunday afternoon, and at one got saluted by the Gendarme.

True, but with UK plates I have never been stopped, Sunday afternoons in Brittanys seem to be the local sports event - ie from about 3.30 onwards, yes you guessed, they stop and breathalise the locals, probably on their way home after an extremely good lunch!

My sergant chum told me its a good deterent to park up with the brigade on roundabouts(highly visible) around towns, as above, if you do something really stupid they will stop you and the policy is to check everything!

That's what happens with our police also, if you are unlucky to get stopped for something you can bet they are going to check your vehicle all over.

Going back to bulbs, the point I'm trying to make is, on a lot of cars it's virtually impossible to change a bulb at the roadside, and a good many just cannot be done without taking half of the front off, so why did this having to carry a set of bulbs become a rule on the continent? Money making comes to mind,just the same as having to carry the breathalyser gadgets, one is no good two may be ok,oh go on then we'll have half a dozen, someone is on a nice little earner.

Think its a case of laws lagging car development as the requirement for spare bulbs has been in place for a long time 10+years, the need to dismantle the front end is a fairly recent development I think.

Breathalyser maybe a ruse to save the authorities money - bearing in mind the financial si****ion in Europe!

Sorry the system has taken exception to the word si****ion

Just recd the following from a french chum but , the breathe test kit is up and running today,but there is a period of grace until November, if stopped plead that there are no kits available, after beginningof Nov mandatory with an immeadiate fine of 17€

Suggest you copy and paste into translate.google - interesting piece!vested interests rule in france as well as uk!!

Voilà un scandale qui, s'il était connu d'un grand nombre de Français ferait sans doute une onde de choc à travers tout le pays...

Vous savez sans doute que le gouvernement a récemment publié un décret qui oblige chaque automobiliste à détenir dans sa voiture un éthylotest – enfin deux, l'un pour se tester en cas de doute, et l'autre à présenter aux gendarmes en cas de contrôle.

Officiellement, le but est de lutter contre l'alcoolisme au volant. Tout le monde aimerait voir moins de drames sur la route liés à l'alcool,

c'est incontestable. Mais je vais vous montrer qu'il s'agit de bien autre chose ici...

L'affaire est tellement scandaleuse qu'il fallait absolument que je vous envoie un mail pour vous informer !

Alors, voilà ce qui se passe :

En juillet, une association, "I-Test" se crée pour militer en faveur d'éthylotests obligatoires dans toutes les voitures. Ils interpellent le Ministre de l'Intérieur, Claude Guéant, et hop quelques mois plus tard le décret sort. La nouvelle infraction est créée, avec une amende de 17 euros à la clef.

Quand on sait qu'il faut des années d'habitude pour obtenir quoi que ce soit quand on est une association, nous avons été saisis par cette rapidité !

Vous le savez, ici à la Ligue de Défense des Conducteurs, nous enquêtons depuis plus de trois ans sur la répression routière – il ne nous a pas fallu longtemps pour découvrir le pot aux roses !

Qui sont les membres de cette "association" ? S'agit-il, comme on aurait pu le croire, d'un collectif de familles qui ont perdu un proche sur la route à cause d'un chauffard qui avait trop bu ?

Pas du tout : ce sont tout simplement... des fabricants d'ethylotests !

Le Président de "l'association" est chargé de mission chez Contralco, le plus grand fabricant d'éthylotests chimiques (les fameux "ballons").

Et là, il vient de réussir un coup de maître : assurer à sa boîte un marché 100 % garanti sur 38 millions de voitures !

Le calcul est vite fait : 38 millions de voitures x 2 éthylotests à 1 pièce = 76 millions d'euros garantis dès l'application du décret en juillet prochain.

Mieux : le décret comporte une obligation de norme NF pour les éthylotests... norme que cette entreprise est la seule à avoir !

Voilà : un marché juteux, 100 % garanti, qui va rapporter des millions à une grosse entreprise...Et nous, on vient nous dire que c'est pour notre sécurité ? Et que si l'éthylotest venait à manquer dans notre boîte à gants, ce serait tellement grave qu'on devrait payer une amende ?

Franchement, de qui se moque-t-on ?

M'aider à faire connaître ce scandale au plus grand nombre de Français possible, en transférant ce message à tous vos amis, vos proches, ou vos collègues. Ne les laissez pas tomber dans le piège de la propagande des pouvoirs publics qui utilisent la sécurité routière comme un alibi pour engraisser un business juteux.

Je vous remercie.

Bien cordialement,

Christiane Bayard

Secrétaire Générale LIGUE DE DEFENSE DES CONDUCTEURS 116, rue de Charenton 75012 PARIS

Quand on sait que les éthylotests ont une date d'utilisation d'environ 6 mois, on voit le bénéfice pour cette société ......

De plus, en regardant de plus près, on s'aperçoit que les éthylotests doivent être conservés entre 10 et 40 degré maxi ......

Quand on connaît la température qu'il fait dans un véhicule en pleine chaleur ...... autant dire que l'on nous fait jeter notre argent par les fenêtres pour engraisser les copains de nos politiques !!!!!!!!

Pour ma part je refuse de m'y plier et je vous invite à en faire autant et de diffuser ces infos à l'ensemble de vos amis pour qu'un vent de contestation contre cette mesure se lève !!!!!!

Maybe it's my poor French but he is saying the new French carry a breathalyser law is a scam as it was dreamt up by the firm which makes the only approved ones.

Good Game!

exactement - smacks of uk scams and to a certain extent animal afarm!!

You need TWO breathalysers for France, and why do you have to remove speed cameras from your satnav???? :think:

Two points:

1. The Skoda official 'Zenon' bulb kit includes a special adapter and bulb to replace a Zenon, it's not a Zenon bulb, but at least it's legal (I am sure TP will come up with the part number in a while)

2. Have been in France for the last couple of weeks - I'm actually writing this on the DFDS ferry ferry from Dunkirk - and must have tried 10 different places to buy a breath test kit, nobody has them! They all have signs saying ' sorry we are having difficulty in obtaining supplies' probably because they are all being supplied to the UK at exhorbitant prices!!

P.S. Found one (only) in the onboard shop priced at £5.99 !! -- no thanks, I'll wait for my next trip to France and hope the Supermarkets have them back in stock

Edited 2 July, 201214 yr by Millstone

You need TWO breathalysers for France, and why do you have to remove speed cameras from your satnav???? :think:

I think it's illegal to have a devise that warns of cameras (certainly in France so I am told anyway).

I think it's illegal to have a devise that warns of cameras (certainly in France so I am told anyway).

The French gps systems have the facility, most French in my circle use 'em, the cameras are also well marked in advance ie on autoroutes etc but I think if you have the system activated it still does not indicate the location of lurking Gendarmes(mainly behind trees etc) on route nationale with speed bins, if the system does, I suspect it would be too late anyway!! - best idea is to follow the speed of the French but not that of those in Aixam or Ligiers(Postman Pat type vehicles), they are quite legal for people to drive after the loss of licence after too much alcohol - strange country!

exactement - smacks of uk scams and to a certain extent animal afarm!!

Yes, but it's still a lot less of a scam than all the greedy ba&&&rd bankers.

I think it's illegal to have a devise that warns of cameras (certainly in France so I am told anyway).

correct, but some satnavs are calling them 'zones of interest,

the cameras are also well marked in advance ie on autoroutes etc

They are now starting to remove the advance warning signs ('Radar Control Frequent') HOWEVER...

They are replacing them with electronioc signs that flash your speed at you!! and a few yards (sorry metres) later there is the same speed camera. At least that is what is happening in The Dordogne according to the local (English language) newspaper. I saw several examples of this, so if you get your speed flashed at you expect to see a camera very soon after!!

Edited 2 July, 201214 yr by Millstone