 Poster: A snowHead
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Does anybody know if it is mandatory to carry a spare bulb kit in France?
Thanks.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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?
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Yes, but, I have never, ever, been asked for one myself nor been in a car where the driver has been asked to provide one, and the number of French cars limping around with one headlight and smashed rear-lights suggests the same. Obviously can't tell you not to buy one, but just don't break the bank on quality buying all the kit in the shop at Dover. Think this is one of those laws the French have on their books but quietly forget about seeing as no-one pays any attention to them - see personal breathalysers as the most recent example (quietly delayed, twice, then revoked).
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Thanks for the advice. Could always put together a selection of old spare bulbs littering a drawer in the garage and stick them in the boot. Don't suppose the gendarmes will know any different anyway ---will they? 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Same here, never been asked for it - but actually did have to change a headlight bulb this winter, so was glad I had the kit. Similarly I actually used my warning triangle, and was glad of it (though I very nearly drove off and left it round the bend). These things - like the high-vis jacket - are actually very sensible things to carry, regardless of whether there is any legal requirement.
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davidthornton, I bought a set about twenty years ago and about 5 cars ago so I doubt they would fit the current one. But if asked (and I think you would have needed to have wound up plod big time before being asked) , I can point to them in the boot
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I don't think it is tbh. However it is illegal to drive with a blown light so it's advised.
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Claude B, Hmm, Halfords saying compulsory AA does not
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Only time I have ever been asked for all the documentation/bulbs/warning triangle etc was once many years ago at the Swiss Border, fortunately had everything they wanted on their checklist, I think they were only asking because some big international conference was going on and there were 3 chaps at least two of whom could have looked like troublemakers in the car never been asked before or since.
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holidayloverxx, AA are probably more reliable as they are part of a union of national motoring alliances in Europe. I do not have any in my car nor have I had any in any for more years than I care to remember. None of my French friends have them either, we were discussing this point last November when I was panicking about the blooming breathalysers things.
I think the warning vests and triangles are essential as are the First Aid kits we have to carry (I failed my German MOT a couple of cars back because mine was out of date!).
Many modern cars no longer have light units that are easy to access and open to DIY a change. I know my Caddy would be a bitch to change a bulb. My Scenic was a nightmare the one time I had to switch one in the middle of the night. I ended up in a motorway service area getting help from the ADAC. 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Samerberg Sue, I didnt know the first aid kits had a use by date on them. Thats something else to worry about now 
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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.
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| Quote: |
I know my Caddy would be a bitch to change a bulb
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On the front...
Open bonnet.
Flick the light housing catch off.
Take off wires.
Flick off the R-clip
Change bulb and reverse instructions.
Let me know next time you are kicking about these 'ere woods and I'll give you a crash course! 
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holidayloverxx, Halfords do have a conflict of interest
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You know it makes sense.
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Claude B, so do the AA really, they sell all the stuff too
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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holidayloverxx, True but I think their info is more impartial tbh.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Don't bother.
I drove for about 6 months with a busted headlight, back and forth over the Swiss border even, nobody cared.
Most modern cars are impossible to change bulbs without removing half the engine.
I've had light bulbs, hi vis jackets, warning triangles and snow chains clattering around in my boot for the last 2 years of living here, and have never needed any of them. I had a go at changing my headlight, and nearly severed my arm off - and then took it to the dealership to be fixed.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Just call the A team 
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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?
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My RH (as viewed from the driving position) light is exactly as flangesax says. The LH one is the same, with the added step of removing plastic housing that protects the radiator hoses. The indicators are the same, plus a google online to work out how the heck you access it.
Worth having anyway. Mine have all blown in Innsbruck or Arabba (except indicators, which was on the way to work), all with a night time drive back to Frankfurt. I see **** loads of cars with lights out, even seen 1 with no headlights and using fog lamps, but I'd rather not be one of them when the cost is same as 2 large Austrian beers, and about 5 minutes of freezing fingers.
Given up trying to remember what's needed where, so have bulb kit, screwdriver, 3x vests, triangle, 1st aid kit, and an ADAC card. Oh and 1 left over LED light thingy from Birthday Bash Night Skiing do.
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I don't have chains nor a breathalyser, but do happen to have some bulbs rattling around (if they fit is another matter) and did stick a couple of hi-viz vests in the seat pockets as I heard they were getting a bit Nazi on those. Vests seem to be about the only thing the French carry, too.
Of the things in my boot that get used a lot, namely the shovel, jump leads and tow rope, none of them is a legal requirement. Go figure...
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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My understanding is that it is NOT compulsory to carry a bulb kit i.e. you'll never get asked to show one to customs/gendarmerie on entry to France.
IF, however, you get stopped for having a light out and cannot immediately rectify the problem (by replacing the bulb) you can be fined. Like everything in France though, this is at the discretion of the Gendarme you're dealing with so it will depend on how nice, polite, and reassuring about fixing it at the first opportunity you are.
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I don't know if that's true, but if so it's a bit like the failed breathalyser law; it was never a legal requirement to buy two but you had to always have one ready to use, so if you ever used one you were obliged to have a second ready before you could drive off...
| Raceplate wrote: |
| Like everything in France though, this is at the discretion of the Gendarme you're dealing with so it will depend on how nice, polite, and reassuring about fixing it at the first opportunity you are. |
I was once stopped in France by the border police for a random search a few km back from Andorra and was questioned about a smashed up headlamp cluster. When I showed them the bulb in it still worked they stopped looking at it - no concern at all that it was completely misaligned, and missing the glass to redirect it correctly. If anything it would have been safer for other road users to remove the bulb and leave it unlit. French police are really quite abstract when it comes to enforcing laws.
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| Mr Pieholeo wrote: |
Don't bother.
I drove for about 6 months with a busted headlight, back and forth over the Swiss border even, nobody cared.
Most modern cars are impossible to change bulbs without removing half the engine.
I've had light bulbs, hi vis jackets, warning triangles and snow chains clattering around in my boot for the last 2 years of living here, and have never needed any of them. I had a go at changing my headlight, and nearly severed my arm off - and then took it to the dealership to be fixed. |
That's my problem with all of this, how does the "law" cope with cars that you have to have the bulb changed by a dealer, like bi-xenons .....
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| Quote: |
you'll never get asked to show one to customs/gendarmerie on entry to France.
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you'll never get asked to show them your car papers (log book, insurance certificate etc) either but that doesn't mean it's not compulsory to carry them. Same applies to high-vis vest.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| stevew wrote: |
| That's my problem with all of this, how does the "law" cope with cars that you have to have the bulb changed by a dealer, like bi-xenons ..... |
But you can change Bi-Xenons yourself, although I believe in any case the law would say you shouldn't be driving at night or in bad visibility until it's fixed. Worst that can happen is they take the car off you, but can't really ever see that happening for a bulb.
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pam w, depends. Been stopped by the gendarmes in French Guiana and they wanted all that lot.
edit: was a road block, so all cars stopped.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| pam w wrote: |
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you'll never get asked to show one to customs/gendarmerie on entry to France.
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that doesn't mean it's not compulsory to carry them. Same applies to high-vis vest. |
Yes but this is France, you have to remember that what is the law and what is actually done aren't the same thing. Remember until the end of January this year (2013!!) it was illegal for women to wear trousers unless steering a bicycle or a horse...* Pretty sure not a single person was nicked for that one recently!
It is of course harder for foreigners to get away with ignoring their laws, and I certainly pay the necessary amount of lip-service myself, but the kits sold by Halfords etc are just profiteering on fear. It doesn't do any harm to have spare bulbs of course, but just chuck in any old cheap ones, a triangle and a couple of construction vests and be done with it.
* http://www.senat.fr/questions/base/2012/qSEQ120700692.html
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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.
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| Quote: |
what is the law and what is actually done aren't the same thing
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When it comes to carrying your car documents it most definitely is done. If you are stopped for any reason (I was once stopped in a mass christmas eve booze check in Megeve) then you will be asked for your papers. You might get away with it for being an ignorant (but polite and deferential ) foreigner.
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car docs handy too anyway, when/if you either breakdown or need to go to a main dealer while overseas. They can just punch in the car number in to the system and all the details pop straight up. Done this with SEAT main dealer in Slovenia when leccy window mechanism broke, and the Swiss TCS also wanted it when coil pack packed in on way back from PSB.
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Samerberg Sue, Indeed, but it was only a copy and you are supposed to carry the original - I'll take the risk!
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Poster: A snowHead
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| albinomountainbadger wrote: |
It doesn't do any harm to have spare bulbs of course, but just chuck in any old cheap ones, a triangle and a couple of construction vests and be done with it.
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Indeed. The last time I took my own car abroad was over 10 years ago now, but I always have a spare bulb kit, warning triangle etc. in the back.
On my last car (Citroen C5), the RH headlight was an absolute pain in the A*** to change, due to the position of the reservoir for the hydraulic suspension, but the others were OK. On my current car, no bulb take more than 5 minutes, with the tools I also always carry.
I don't understand why people wouldn't carry these things, given that the cost is pretty trivial.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| pam w wrote: |
| Quote: |
you'll never get asked to show one to customs/gendarmerie on entry to France.
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you'll never get asked to show them your car papers (log book, insurance certificate etc) either but that doesn't mean it's not compulsory to carry them. Same applies to high-vis vest. |
Yes, but we're not talking about those things, which I'm well aware are compulsory. We're talking about a spare bulb kit.
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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?
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| Quote: |
My understanding is that it is NOT compulsory to carry a bulb kit i.e. you'll never get asked to show one to customs/gendarmerie on entry to France.
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I was just responding to this - implying that if something was compulsory you'd be asked to show it on entry to France. AFAIK spare bulbs are only recommended - but having seen, at my local garage, how easy it was to change a headlamp bulb on my car (as in the procedure described by flangesax above) I was glad of having a spare. Seems a useful sort of thing to have in a car (like a spare wheel - that's not compulsory either but I'd go nowhere without one).
I have flares on my boat and like nearly everyone with flares on their boat the main problem is how to get rid of them when they're past their sell by date (and could you remember how to fire them if necessary). Nice things to have, though.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| pam w wrote: |
| Quote: |
My understanding is that it is NOT compulsory to carry a bulb kit i.e. you'll never get asked to show one to customs/gendarmerie on entry to France.
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I was just responding to this - implying that if something was compulsory you'd be asked to show it on entry to France. |
Perhaps I should have added, "when they're having a crackdown on UK drivers". I've never seen it happen but I believe they have crackdowns every now and then at Calais (mostly in the summer) when they check cars leaving the ferry for compulsory items and fine the drivers for whatever's missing. My belief is that if you're asked to show you're properly equipped a spare bulb kit will not be part of the inspection.
FWIW, my car meets ALL EU countries' legislations (including a spare bulb kit that I compiled myself) because although I usually go to France I also get wanderlust. Last year this resulted in a drive from the French alps to Prague via Switzerland, Germany and Austria with an excursion to Slovakia and a return via Belgium.
My comments really are about the fact that if you're helpful and polite to the copper that's trying to nick you, you'll get away with a lot as foreign driver. I got done a few years ago for 156kmh in France (€40 requested very politely and they wrote the cheque out for me so I only had to sign it) but they had no interest in seeing any documentation or inspecting the car. I've had a compulsory breath test at 4am at a road block in Annecy on the way to Geneva airport in a hire car - they wanted to see the hire document but again no interest in anything else. When I did a season in Meribel as a minibus shuttle driver there was a particular Municipal Policeman who took a dislike to me and once booked me for the cumulative offence of speeding, using a mobile phone and not wearing a seat belt. Not all at the same time, he reckoned he'd seen me commit all the offences individually at different times on the same day. The fine was €22.
In Prague I got nicked for driving in a pedestrian zone (following the satnav!) and not carrying my documentation - this was a genuine mistake; all my ID was in a different jacket in the hotel. After a friendly conversation in which I said I'd put all my valuable stuff in the hotel safe because of the number of pickpocket warnings he reduced the fine from CZK 4,000 to CZK400 - about £15.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Spare pair of glasses in some places, ie Spain I believe. Now if you don't wear them ......
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Always intrigues me the "spare glasses" requirement - I don't have any spare glasses in the car. I have about 50 pairs of contact lenses however
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I've always been under the impression that the bulb kit was something that you have to carry in France, as well as a warning triangle, breathalyser kit and high vis jackets for everyone in the car.
Not 100% sure if that's correct but if you're planning on driving across France, where they don't seem to like using street lights or cats eyes, having a headlight out is a bit of a pain! Go to Halfords and spend a tenner!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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think that rule is going?
I have a pack anyway, but have (and had) absolutely no intention of replacing after the use by date.
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Do French hire cars come equiped with a spare set of bulbs?
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Dunno, but I have noticed that every single Italian rental car I've rented does come with a hi-viz vest. I reckon they just charge the €1 on every rental anyway, and replace them every time as part of the pre-rental preparation
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| Quote: |
Quote:
breathalyser kit
think that rule is going?
I have a pack anyway, but have (and had) absolutely no intention of replacing after the use by date.
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Probably! I know they delayed it and then kind of introduced it but weren't enforcing it for a while. It cost about €1 a kit so we'll carry them just in case
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