Currantly sat at Dover port awaiting the ferry, other half has just asked me do I have;

Warning triangle- no

High vis - no

V5- no

First aid kit - no

Head light deflectors- no

So far not so good!

Question is was my octy suppose to come with the warning triangle and first aid kit? My golf did!

Might be an option. Didn't know you needed V5 too.

AFAIK there is no legal requirement for cars sold in the UK market to be supplied with either. Some manufacturers put them in, some have them as options. Beware the French police, they'll have a field day if they pull you. :(

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/overseas/general_advice.html

Currantly sat at Dover port awaiting the ferry, other half has just asked me do I have;

Warning triangle- no

High vis - no

V5- no

First aid kit - no

Head light deflectors- no

So far not so good!

Question is was my octy suppose to come with the warning triangle and first aid kit? My golf did!

Mine did and hi-viz vest, fire extingusher, just bought headlight deflecters. Have you got your breathalyser for France?

http://www.bbc.co.uk...europe-18662555

You are just a Devill may care risk taker, or a rebel without any claws.

(forget the Breath Test stuff just yet. Put off till November, well it was last time i read, 2 weeks ago.)

Why not just get & put in the car what you should have?.

Smile nicely at a HGV driver, you never know what you might get given for nothing!

Or smile at the Police Person, male or female.

have fun.

george

BTW. You don't need the headlight deflectors on your car.

You can "flatten" the beam for european driving by flipping a lever inside the headlights.

Also even on cars that do require them it's a con! If you read the handbook it says to just use some opaque tape to cover a certain spot on the lights and it gives you all the measurements. Electrical insulation tape works great and saves a fortune.

You can buy most of those things in petrol stations on the other side of the water.

Phil

The most worrying part now is the fact the other half whom drives a lot aboard failed to tell me about my v5 and insurance docs :/

Yeh I believe you need them.

They like to see them and be able to do a quick visual check of who owns the car and who is insured to drive it. They would be able to check electronically but would take lots of extra time up.

If you can't flatten your headlights or get some stickers on then just dip them right down with the switch. This can be very frouned upon as you can end up dazzling people very easily. Instructions for doing the lights are here:

http://octavia-vrs.com/cms/content/eu-headlight-conversion

If the Headlights are going to be getting switched on, i would get them done before they are.

At least then you are advertising less, 'not prepared'.

GB Stcker!

When you are in the Shop buying, advise your other half to buy 'soap on a rope'.

Again, Have fun.

george

GB Stcker!

Ah yeh. Your plates should already be the euro style ones and have GB on the side but if not you need a GB sticker too.

Phil

No, the plates should be UK style,

which does not need GB on it. OK if it does have,

(or Sco, Eng, etc.)

The Car needs the GB Sticker on it.

george

And remember to disable any speed camera / speed radar warnings on your satnav. They are not allowed.

Have a good trip

If you're taking a ferry, you'll probably find there's a shop that sells everything you need. I've seen so many british cars in France before though with no headlight reflectors (driving at night) and without GB stickers or plates. It's hard to tell if they have any of the other things though

I have seen HGV's blocking the roads & burning sheep at the roadside.

Not something i would do myself, even if others do get away with it.

george

I never have any of that stuff on my car or with me and have never had issues after countless trips right across France. Used to do this trip twice a year but havent now for a couple of years. Risky i know but there is a lot of scaremongering about french police. If you are speeding excessively and get pulled then you could have problems but speeding in france is quite hard to do. 80mph is legal on autoroutes in good weather meaning about 89-90mph actual is accepted. Doing 90mph you will be doing the same speed as everyone else and therefore will never get stopped in a month of sundays.

Saying that i'll probably buy all that junk next time i go as with a wee one in the back now i couldnt face the hassle if i did get stopped. As someone else said buy all the stuff you need at first petrol station and dont worry about V5 and insurance docs. Just dont get caught speeding.

Edited 30 August, 201213 yr by Jockdooshbag

Possible more importantly,

dont get crashed into while driving in Europe or even crash into something or someone else.

But then you are a 'free spirit' & will sail along quite happily without incident.

??Are we sailing yet. ?

I will have Rod Stewart going through my head all day now.

george

Dover is not the best place/time to be finding out all this information LOL

Have a good holiday.

I'm in the EU atm, and have been through 8 countries so far. I've not needed anything, and have only had my passport checked once (from Austria to Switzerland).

FWIW, I've taken 2x hi-vis jackets (some countries want one per person), spare bulbs, triangle, 1st aid kit and spare fuses (Czech Republic). Doubt you'll need anything/be checked though!

It's great here too - over 140mph legally!

Edited 30 August, 201213 yr by TriggerFish

Take the spare bulbs, make sure you have a GB or Euro plates. Make sure you have a high vis jacket too for the driver if France.

A first aid kit you can pick up at the BP just before dover.

The lights can be flattened, it's not too hard to do as long as you've a long thin screwdriver.

If you wear glasses don't forget you need a spare pair.

We went to Lithuania and Belarus last month and the V5 was checked going into and out of both countries.

Also, you need a fire extinguisher for Belarus and a GB sticker as the Euro plates are not valid as it's outside the EU. But I doubt if you're going there anyway!

We went to Lithuania and Belarus last month and the V5 was checked going into and out of both countries.

Also, you need a fire extinguisher for Belarus and a GB sticker as the Euro plates are not valid as it's outside the EU. But I doubt if you're going there anyway!

Probably checked on this occasion to try and prevent stolen vehicles from leaving the EU.

When going between most EU countries the borders are usually pretty relaxed.

I have only ever once been stopped when going from Germany into Holland where they had closed the motorway off and were directing all cars through a rest stop and stopping certain ones.

Checked out passports and sent us on our way.

Phil

Take the spare bulbs, make sure you have a GB or Euro plates. Make sure you have a high vis jacket too for the driver if France.

A first aid kit you can pick up at the BP just before dover.

The lights can be flattened, it's not too hard to do as long as you've a long thin screwdriver.

If you wear glasses don't forget you need a spare pair.

And a partridge in a pear tree also.

Holly crap - spare glasses too. You pretty much wont have room for luggage by the time you pack in all the crap they expect you to carry. Pretty ridiculous TBH and will probably only get worse.

And a partridge in a pear tree also.

Holly crap - spare glasses too. You pretty much wont have room for luggage by the time you pack in all the crap they expect you to carry. Pretty ridiculous TBH and will probably only get worse.

You ever been stopped by the French Police?

Missing any of those is an instant 400 Euro fine, payable right now and if you can't pay they can impound your car.

FWIW, the warning triangle has a space in the boot for it and takes up no usable room.

First aid kit, bulbs and spare glasses would easily fit in the glove box.

High Vis Jacket makes sense if you've ever changed a tyre on an unlit back road.

This is probably a one off at less than £50 and could well save your life.

I actually wish the warning triangle and spare bulbs were mandatory in the UK.

Edited 31 August, 201213 yr by cheezemonkhai

The problem is here in the uk the people with warning triangles put them 3 ft from the rear of the car.