France mandates a breathalyser in every car from spring 2012

French president Nicolas Sarkozy, during a ceremony highlighting road safety which rewards municipalities and departments for their efforts in the fight against road accidents, has announced that from spring next year, every car in France will have to carry a breathalyser.
April 24, 2012 Read time: 1 min
French president Nicolas Sarkozy, during a ceremony highlighting road safety which rewards municipalities and departments for their efforts in the fight against road accidents, has announced that from spring next year, every car in France will have to carry a breathalyser. The presence of the device, the most basic type which can only be used once and costs around €2 (US$2.70), will enable drivers to check if they can legally drive after drinking alcohol. Failure to carry a breathalyser will result in a €17 fine.

Alcohol is reportedly the biggest factor in deaths on the road in France with 28.5 per cent of fatalities involving a car driven by someone with an excessive blood alcohol level. The presence of a breathalyser in cars will allow individuals to assess whether they are able to drive after drinking, President Sarkozy said. He also confirmed the roll out of 400 new fixed speed cameras by the end of next year.

Related Content

  • EU must do more to cut car occupant deaths, say transport safety campaigners
    April 25, 2014
    Transport safety campaigners are calling on the European Union to accelerate progress on reducing the number of people killed in cars annually in the EU, as new research shows 12,345 car occupants died in 2012. The report into trends in car occupant safety, published today (29 April 2014) by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), claims that 900 lives could be saved every year in the EU if car manufacturers were required to fit seat-belt reminder sensors to front and rear passenger seats to help prev
    Read More
  • Fewer cars; more reckless drivers?
    April 28, 2020
    Emptier streets may be a green light for some US drivers to flaunt safety laws, reports the GHSA*.
    Read More
  • Concern at France’s crash rate
    September 14, 2015
    Concern is being expressed in France at the increase in the country’s road fatality rate. Data shows that for August 2015, the number of people killed on roads in the country rose 9.5% compared to August 2014. This increase in road fatalities continues the worrying trend seen earlier in the year. During the first eight months of 2015, the number of people killed on French roads was 2,253, an increase of 99 over the same period in 2014. This increase in the death rate comes after several year of reducing the
    Read More
  • Study reveals high levels of US motorcyclist fatalities
    April 26, 2013
    A report by the US Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) estimates that motorcyclist deaths increased around 9% in 2012, with over 5,000 killed. This is greater than had been expected by the US Government and if the data is confirmed, 2012 will be the 14th out of the last 15 years in which motorcyclist fatalities have increased. This shocking data is in marked contrast to US road fatalities overall, which have dropped. Motorcyclists remain one of the few roadway user groups where no safety improvemen
    Read More

Highlighted Content