French cars can now be fined in Ireland and Sweden
Drivers with French licence plates on their vehicle now risk a fine at home if they are caught speeding in two more countries - Ireland and Sweden - in addition to the 18 other nations already on the list.
The two countries were added on June 24 this year.
This brings the total list of countries to 20. France has agreements in place with these nations, meaning that they can exchange information on driving infractions across borders, in both directions.
In the case of speeding and other similar road offences, this means that getting caught could land you with a fine sent to your home address in France - even if the incident happened abroad.
The rules also apply in reverse - so someone with a UK-plated car (for example) also risks receiving a fine at their home back in the UK, even if they were caught in France (or any of the other countries listed).
Road safety agency la Sécurité Routière said: “[It is now possible] to prosecute Irish and Swedish nationals who commit road infractions that are picked up by cameras in France. In return, French citizens who commit road infractions picked up by cameras on Irish and Swedish roads, can be prosecuted by the authorities of those countries.”
The full list of countries where the rules apply is:
Belgium, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, UK, Romania, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Switzerland, Ireland, and Sweden.
The agency added: “Since the introduction of speed cameras in France, around 21% of infractions (50% in the summertime) concern cars with foreign licence plates, even though they represent just 5-6% of traffic.
“In one year (from February 2018 to January 2019), more than 15,000 infractions were committed on French roads by cars with Irish licence plates, and more than 12,000 infractions were committed by cars with Swedish plates.”
