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Driving to ski resorts - new French Environmental Zone Vignettes

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Many restrictions in Isere since yesterday. Any cars without a vignette or higher than 3 banned. Not sure how that works in practise given that the main autoroute to the Med passes through and is likely to be busy with cars from all over Europe today.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@Claude B, have you seen any actual enforcement going on? Like cars taken off the road or fines issued?
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
@andy1234, I think this is the first time it's been used on such a large scale. Nothing up here in the mountains. It's Grenoble and the area towards Lyon where the problems are.

Lots on the radio, such as (in french)
https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/transports/pollution-les-mesures-de-circulations-differenciees-sont-etendues-en-isere-1561778872

Don't actually see many cars around here with them although you have to pass Grenoble to get most places. The French are good at ignoring things Very Happy My girlfriend hasn't got one and she drives this way frequently. Over 12 million sold though, perhaps mostly to Brits Laughing
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Thanks
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I've just lost an hour of my life doing it again, didn't bother last year, though had one before that, and I loose count the number of times I go back and forth, though recently been leaving car and flying from Turin and renting car in the UK which is way cheaper than driving to and from etc

Just that I will eventually be going back through Grenoble in August and maybe elsewhere mid-July.

What a load of hassle for 3 bucks rolling eyes
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@Weathercam, have you changed vehicles? They dontcexpire I don't think.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@Claude B, NOOOOOOOOHHHH I was told they were for a year and speaking to friends tonight they did not infer they did not expire, oh well, I'll go and examine my one in the morning and let you know Laughing

Just had it confirmed the life of the vehicle Shocked Shocked
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@Weathercam, Toofy Grin at least its only 3 or 4€
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Claude B wrote:
Many restrictions in Isere since yesterday. Any cars without a vignette or higher than 3 banned. Not sure how that works in practise given that the main autoroute to the Med passes through and is likely to be busy with cars from all over Europe today.


The main autoroute goes through the Rhone department, not the Isere. There are different rules for the Rhone at the moment.
Vignette 4,5 can go on the expressways and autoroutes in the Isere at present
The speed limit is 70kph on the autoroutes after the peages into Grenoble
There are no controls around Grenoble probably because vignette 4,5 are not affected
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Apologies up front on this, very busy at work just now with no time to read up on this, so if someone knows without any investigation required a bit of advice would be great.
We are traveling to Chamonix in July/August on autoroute in a 2016 diesel car, do I need to get one of these?
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@davidof, Ah ok, it crosses the river a couple of times between the two. It was pretty horrendous when I drove down 10 days ago. Reduced speed limits and queues from Lyon to Orange. And that was on a Friday.
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
@Jonny996, Haut Savoie is a ZPA area

In a zone de protection de l'air (ZPA), which tends to be significantly larger than the ZCR zones, traffic is only restricted by public announcement at times of high air pollution; and all vehicles must display a vignette at those times.

So potentially you will need one to get there. A 2016 diesel is likely to be 2 or 3 but displaying that with a vignette would be necessary.
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So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Claude B wrote:


So potentially you will need one to get there. A 2016 diesel is likely to be 2 or 3 but displaying that with a vignette would be necessary.


I tend to agree with Claude, although the locals don't seem to bother much with them as he mentioned above. However the police are regularly on the toll boths doing various controls.

I checked the Rhone - (lyon) and Paris and suburbs and only 0,1,2 are allowed to drive during daylight hours. In Lyon transiting vehicles on the autoroutes are allowed though. So no worries if you don't have a vignette so long as you don't leave the autoroutes/expressways.

The whole thing is an utter nonsense. They are based on the EURO norms not on the harmful pollutants are car emits when it is hot. There are cars like the new Twingo or Smart which get a 1 sticker but emit more harmful pollution than a 1980s Soviet diesel truck.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
ive had a look & its going to be a royal pain, it wants copy of log book ect & I don't have that as car is work lease car. so even though its a euro 6 class car & will be a certificate 2, I need to do a hell of a lot of running about. FOR A 4 EURO certificate.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
@Jonny996, if you are driving outside of the UK you need to carry the registration document in the car at all times anyway (legal requirement in practically all countries). That is all you need to get the sticker, the application process is pretty painless, the biggest pain is making sure the image of the reg document is less than 400MB.

I agree that lots of French probably dont bother but occasional very difficult French police officers are well known (especially to non French drivers, German registered cars as much as British ones!), its much better to have the right paperwork and avoid the small chance of a lot of grief.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Not quite. When I had a company car they used to provide me with a letter of authorisation and a VE103 when I took it abroad.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Must get my finger out and buy another one. We had windscreen replaced in January.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
@Hells Bells, sell you mine for €2.50 Laughing
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Anything higher than 2 or without barred from the Grenoble area tomorrow. Free public transport. There have been restrictions all this week between Lyon and Grenoble. How it works in practise I dont know I'm afraid.

https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/auvergne-rhone-alpes/isere/grenoble/grenoble-episode-pollution-persiste-restrictions-supplementaires-mises-place-routes-1778765.html
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Geneva zone is also active.
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Claude B wrote:
Anything higher than 2 or without barred from the Grenoble area tomorrow. Free public transport. There have been restrictions all this week between Lyon and Grenoble. How it works in practise I dont know I'm afraid.

https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/auvergne-rhone-alpes/isere/grenoble/grenoble-episode-pollution-persiste-restrictions-supplementaires-mises-place-routes-1778765.html


No problem with my 25 year old vehicle today but it is do smoggy you would be hard pressed to see any vignette.
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Any latest on this - the last post was 2 1/2 years ago. Thinking of driving next year , do I need to get this ?

I did a quick google and some crit air site that wanted €50 off me !
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@eblunt, Must be a dodgy site. Mine was a few euros.
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Like many of these things (ULEZ, CC charge, Swiss vignette...) there are lots of scam/skimming sites to be avoided. Only go to the official French Government site:

https://www.certificat-air.gouv.fr/

Cost is 4,51 €

You probably won't need it, but it's so cheap you may as well get it anyway.
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@HilbertSpace, Thank you just what I needed.
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
FYI your French Crit'Air Certificate also doubles as a Geneva Stick'AIR certificate as well - if you have the former you don't need the latter to drive through Geneva if an enforcement is in place. From the Geneva Canton website:

«During pollution peaks, traffic in the centre of the canton is temporarily prohibited to the most polluting vehicles. Only motorized vehicles with an authorized Stick'AIR sticker are permitted to travel in this zone between 06:00 and 22:00.»

As mentioned above, you should always carry your original V5C and a Certificate of Insurance with you when driving abroad. The AA has a useful guide on mandatory stuff like this in its Driving in Europe Checklist. I've also written a blog piece about how to prepare for Self-drive to the Swiss Alps. Some of it is Swiss-specific, but most of it is generic stuff collected together from various forums and threads and websites. The blog has lots of links to sites like the AA, Crit'Air, ViaMichelin, Metéo France, motorway tag retailers etc.
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Quote:

FYI your French Crit'Air Certificate also doubles as a Geneva Stick'AIR certificate as well - if you have the former you don't need the latter to drive through Geneva if an enforcement is in place.

Thanks @LaForet, useful to know. I must get a Crit'Air sticker for my new car,
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Jonny996 wrote:
ive had a look & its going to be a royal pain, it wants copy of log book ect & I don't have that as car is work lease car. so even though its a euro 6 class car & will be a certificate 2, I need to do a hell of a lot of running about. FOR A 4 EURO certificate.


Just did it, it only takes 5 minutes if you have your V5C to hand. From your phone take a pic and email it to yourself, and you can use the option to choose a lower resolution (< 2mb ) version of it, that seems the easiest way to reduce the picture size.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Hells Bells wrote:
Must get my finger out and buy another one. We had windscreen replaced in January.


Normally speaking you should have a receipt which has all the details on, which you could probably use OK
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
eblunt wrote:
Hells Bells wrote:
Must get my finger out and buy another one. We had windscreen replaced in January.


Normally speaking you should have a receipt which has all the details on, which you could probably use OK


Well, I had to replace the windscreen on my car, I tried pulling the Crit'air sticker off but it damaged the sticker. I emailed the Crit'air website explaining the situation but they said I'd have to buy a new one.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
As per a previous post, I lease my car, and as such don't have the V5 - would a VE103B be sufficient, does anyone know?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I've got a sticker for my car as I work on the basis that it took about 5 mins to get it, cost a few euros and could save me a whole world of messing about if I get stopped or have stopped for say a flat tyre and the police rock up to make sure I'm ok or they are at a toll booth.
I work on the same basis for breathalysers, V5 etc - it takes no time but could save a lot of time plus a fine.

From memory when we had work lease cars, we needed permission from the lease co, who are the owner, to take the car abroad and had their V5 replacement form. I was never stopped and asked for it but again, for 5 mins, it can save a lot of time
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
SHAP wrote:
As per a previous post, I lease my car, and as such don't have the V5 - would a VE103B be sufficient, does anyone know?


Yes it is!
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@snowornever, Cheers.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
HilbertSpace wrote:
Like many of these things (ULEZ, CC charge, Swiss vignette...) there are lots of scam/skimming sites to be avoided. Only go to the official French Government site:

https://www.certificat-air.gouv.fr/

Cost is 4,51 €

You probably won't need it, but it's so cheap you may as well get it anyway.


Blimey just googled it and went to a site, they wanted 49 euros for one, world is full of crooks
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I have a private plate same Crit air has been on last 3 cars...
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Hi. There seems to be differing info in this thread.

What page of the V5 document have people uploaded? I’m assuming either the front page ( showing name and address ) or top of page 2 ( showing vehicle details ).

And is there a simple way to compress the picture on an iPhone.

Thanks
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@Crashnburn,

Adobe Scan might work for you. Check the app store
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@Crashnburn, Page 2, as it shows the engine details/emissions. Can't help you on iPhone.
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If you have the same car, does the critter need to be updated annually?
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