What are the risks of not carrying your licence when driving in France?
Some drivers can now carry - and present - a digital version of their licence
Police can stop your vehicle at anytime and ask to see your licence.
Hadrian / Shutterstock
There have been some major changes to what you need to carry with you in your vehicle when driving in France in 2024.
The biggest is that, since April, you no longer need a green vignette displaying your vehicle’s insurance, as police now have access to this information via an online database.
Read more: End of green car insurance sticker in France: Eight questions answered
In addition, more and more vehicles will be passing through low emissions zones, requiring a Crit’Air sticker displaying the pollution levels of their vehicles.
Read more: 2024 MAP: Where are France’s clean air driving zones? What are rules?
One thing that has remained constant however is that you must be able to show a valid driver’s licence upon request when stopped by the police or traffic authorities.
Some drivers in France can now use a digital version of their licence – more on this below – but for many their licence will remain a physical version.
Fines issued if you cannot show your licence
If you are asked to present your licence and do not have it, you may receive an on-the-spot fine of €38 – the same as if you cannot show your carte grise / certificat d’immatriculation for the vehicle.
You then have up to five days to go to a nearby police station and show your driving licence.
If you do not, the fine can rise up to €750 if not paid promptly, and your vehicle may also be temporarily taken away and impounded.
Driver found to be without a valid licence (ie. not just to have forgotten it at home) may face a prison sentence and a fine of up to €15,000.
Digital driving licences available
Digital drivers licences have been available since February 2024.
Police will accept a version of your driver’s licence shown through your smartphone via the France Identité app.
Note however that this is the only official digital version accepted – photographs and licences held on other apps will be rejected as insufficient.
The app can only show French driving licences that have been issued after 2021 (either for the first time or as a renewal of an expired older licence) – find out how to use the app via our article from February here.
In time the app will be able to show residency cards for non-citizens, but as of September 2024 no updates have been made as to when this will be available.
Read more: Can residency cards be uploaded to French ID smartphone app?
