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Driving in EU
Bodlyfunctions
 

Posts: 148
Joined: Feb 2012
Location: UK
Post: #1
Driving in EU

Can anyone help please?
I am going to be driving through France with the family over the next couple of weeks and according to French law you are now supposed to carry spare bulbs in the car.
Am I really expected to purchase a replacement Xenon bulb and LEDS for indicators etc?
I have the hi-vis jacket and triangle etc, that's no issue.
Has anyone driven through France and had experience of the ACTUAL requirements please?
(This post was last modified: 26-05-2013 07:53am by Bodlyfunctions.)
26-05-2013 07:53am
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XFullFatTim
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Post: #2
RE: Driving in EU

You can rent them from the AA IIRC

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26-05-2013 09:00am
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SINGHY
 

Posts: 207
Joined: Oct 2011
Location: Leeds
Post: #3
RE: Driving in EU

I drove through the entire length from the north to the south of France across to Italy last year and I just carried a normal replacement bulb, high viz jacket and breathalyser kit.

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26-05-2013 06:24pm
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Bodlyfunctions
 

Posts: 148
Joined: Feb 2012
Location: UK
Post: #4
RE: Driving in EU

Thanks Singy. I will likely work on the principal that the French police won't really know what the difference between a halogen and a xenon.
26-05-2013 06:43pm
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Stadt Panzer
 

Posts: 814
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Location: Germany
Post: #5
Driving in EU

Drove through France at Easter to Spain and just took the normal bulbs with me. Kept to the speed limit (most of the time) and had no probs

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26-05-2013 08:51pm
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PhilSkill
 

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Location: Warwickshire
Post: #6
RE: Driving in EU

I just took the basic spare bulbs too, although I left France as quickly as I entered it... heading straight for Belgium!

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26-05-2013 10:39pm
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mark_n
 

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Location: London
Post: #7
RE: Driving in EU

(26-05-2013 10:39pm)PhilSkill Wrote:  I just took the basic spare bulbs too, although I left France as quickly as I entered it... heading straight for Belgium!

Belgium is a dreadful place, I absolutely hate it. The state of the roads is a disgrace and the Belgians indulge in the national sport of tailgating. I speak French, German and Italian but draw the line at Flemish, so if they don't like my French, I just resort to English.

As for bulbs, the French police understand perfectly well about modern lights not being user replaceable, so I don't take any.

Enjoy your trip, just make sure you take note of those boxes which look like filing cabinets in the central reservation. They are of course speed cameras and I expect they are enjoying a couple of portraits of me in my Ferrari last week.

Mark

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27-05-2013 02:23pm
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Cedric
 

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Location: Belgium
Post: #8
RE: Driving in EU

(27-05-2013 02:23pm)mark_n Wrote:  Belgium is a dreadful place, I absolutely hate it. The state of the roads is a disgrace and the Belgians indulge in the national sport of tailgating. I speak French, German and Italian but draw the line at Flemish, so if they don't like my French, I just resort to English.

As for bulbs, the French police understand perfectly well about modern lights not being user replaceable, so I don't take any.

Enjoy your trip, just make sure you take note of those boxes which look like filing cabinets in the central reservation. They are of course speed cameras and I expect they are enjoying a couple of portraits of me in my Ferrari last week.

Belgian here, Flemish, which is Dutch basically. In certain parts of Belgium you're better of speaking English. If you're French is really good, they might think you are rude and don't want to try to speak Dutch. If you're English, they don't expect you to speak Dutch. Most of us also understand German since the languages are related.

As far as the roads are concerned, you are right. They have been patched for years, instead of having a proper fix. Now they are trying to catch up, which means Belgium is one big construction site at the moment.

What I remember for my trip to the UK is that everyone seems to pick a lane and sticks to it at the speed limit. Here people don't like to stick to speed limits, at least I don't. We have always been told to overtake and then move back to the right side, well the slow lane, of the road. It tends to make traffic more nervous I believe, hence the annoying tailgating. I suppose it has to do with the fact that you can't have a stretch of motorway without an exit every 5 km.

Apart from all this, Belgium is loooooovely Smile

On topic again. I don't think the police expects you to carry light bulbs which cost a fortune and can't be replaced by yourself anyways.
28-05-2013 08:26am
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recordman
 

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Joined: May 2011
Location: CT18
Post: #9
RE: Driving in EU

(28-05-2013 08:26am)Cedric Wrote:  What I remember for my trip to the UK is that everyone seems to pick a lane and sticks to it at the speed limit. Here people don't like to stick to speed limits, at least I don't. We have always been told to overtake and then move back to the right side, well the slow lane, of the road. It tends to make traffic more nervous I believe, hence the annoying tailgating. I suppose it has to do with the fact that you can't have a stretch of motorway without an exit every 5 km.

Hi Cedric, agree that mostly we Brits are hopeless with lane discipline. We can't seem to grab the concept of keeping left unless overtaking.

Shame though that your fellow countrymen don't confine their speeding habits to Belgium. I live near the UK end of the Channel Tunnel and 9/10 Belgian plated cars have no regard for our motorway limit.

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28-05-2013 08:53am
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XFullFatTim
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Location: Somewhere between here and there.
Post: #10
RE: Driving in EU

Also don't forget that traffic law violations anywhere in the EU can now be sent to your home address since all the police computers were linked up a couple of years ago.

A Pangea Green New Defender 110 First Edition is now sitting on my drive alongside British Racing Green Electric Mini Cooper SE Level 3. After 21 years in my hands my TDI300 90 was handed on to the next custodian on 15 July 2022.
28-05-2013 09:32am
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