Remember they imposed another daft idea in making it mandatory to carry a breathalyser. We all rushed out and bought the Halfords kit of 2 for a fiver.

Carole and I hosted a dinner party for 8 last Friday and we got through 11 bottles of wine and all well trollied!!!

We decided to hav a drive to Mudeford on Saturday, it was a smashing day, fresh air, scenery,sketch book ,novels and a picnic and on the way down she said she might still be over the limit. I decided as I would be the same way if I wasdriving, I would try the kit still in the glovebox. It was too fiddly to deal with on the journey so I tried it on Mudeford Quay and got no reading at all. The crystals you must remove before testing yourself were difficult to get out and we came to the conclusion that the the kit had been stored too long, 4 years.

Now we understand they are not an issue with the gendarmes any more.

We have a shared kit. We bought one and friends who regularly travel to France have borrowed it. Luckily we have not all been going at the same time. Never even opened the box. If your experience is anything to go by maybe we should throw them away.

They are date stamped on the box- and I believe no longer comply, after 3 years (I think) with "French Regulations" . Also I understand that the Police have no right of search in your car specifically to 'check' your breathalyser kits - they just have to find another excuse !!! Vive la France" So just behave at all times ! :)

Breathalysers. I live here in France and even I am not quite sure about them. On the grounds of being wise before the event, I have a couple of breathalysers in the car at all times. The relevant bit of the law seems to be:

L'éthylotest a été rendu obligatoire dans tous les véhicules terrestres à moteur par un décret publié au Journal officiel le jeudi 1er mars 2012.
Un nouveau décret, paru au Journal officiel le vendredi 1er mars 2013, maintient l'obligation de posséder un éthylotest mais en supprime la sanction en cas de défaut de possession de l'éthylotest : les conducteurs doivent continuer à posséder un éthylotest dans leur véhicule, mais en son absence ils ne seront pas sanctionnés.

My translation : The breathalyser test kit was made compulsory for all motorised land-vehicles by a decree published in the Official Journal dated 1st March 2012. A new decree published in the Official Journal on 1st March 2013 carried on the obligation to possess a test-kit but removed penalties for not having one: drivers must continue to keep a test-kit in their car but will not be penalised for non-possession.

Hope that is clear!

So to clarify, you have to have a kit but if you don't have one it doesn't matter/

I think you are correct. As far as I can divine it, you ARE legally obliged to carry a kit, but there are no sanctions if you are discovered to be travelling without one. Some comment here in France suggests it is perhaps as much to do with 'awareness-raising' and self-testing as anything else. Carrying one means one less thing to bother about....I hope!

Trouble is- if you are found without a 'Kit' - you are liable to be microscopically searched for some other reason to 'fine ' you - always best to give as little excuse to the gendarmerie as possible ! (as indeed it is in the UK, with our 'police' !) Keep on the safe side :)

biggest thing here in France at the moment seems to be towing mirrors, they certainly didn't ask me for breathalisers when stopped recently, checked documents only