BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

There is a report in the MCN that our French friends have decided we all have to carry high vis vests, even thought we were exempted from this law in 2013.  Also that the use of mobile phone wired ear pieces are to be banned in the near future and that this might effect the use of wired intercom systems..
I can find nothing on either. anybody know anything about any of this?   

RTman10 wrote: There is a report in the MCN that our French friends have decided we all have to carry high vis vests, even thought we were exempted from this law in 2013.  Also that the use of mobile phone wired ear pieces are to be banned in the near future and that this might effect the use of wired intercom systems..
I can find nothing on either. anybody know anything about any of this? 

                 
                " and now can you see me better ?"


Hi this `rumour ' has been circulating for a while,  a good, but  somewhat militant  French Bikers site is  on  this  Link;

                                        http://ukfrancebikers.com


and covers various subjects from stickers on Crash Helmets to these  Hi Viz  jackets,  you just have to scroll down for them.    Some of the content is out dated, you read one `new' legislation,  only to then find its been repealed,  again you need to scroll though.  Seems some of the French Ministers in Office are keen Bikers and are actively scrapping some of the legislation , just a slow process ?  :-X

Cut & pasted is the part RTman10 is querying,  But remember things are constantly changing in good ole France.       
                    To view the various parts listed,  open the `Motorcycling in France' section

January 20, 2013

France: compulsory reflective clothing scrapped

Bikers in France, whether residents or visitors, have started 2013 with good news: the French authorities have recently announced the full and permanent scrapping of previous plans to force all bikers riding a machine of more than 125cc to wear 150cm2 of reflective clothing anywhere between the waist and the shoulders. Under the previous proposals, bikers who were caught not wearing the appropriate reflective clothing from 1st January 2013 would have been liable to a 68 euros fine payable on the spot and two points taken off their licence.
French bikers, with the invaluable and continuous support of the French Federation of Angry Bikers – FFMC (Fédération Française des Motards en Colère), can now enjoy riding all over France without wearing any reflective clothing if they so wish.

Manuel Valls, French Interior Minister, has permanently scrapped the proposed compulsory reflective clothing for bikers! Thank you, Mr Valls!
Manuel Valls, the French Interior Minister (right), announced the good news to the biking community earlier this month and a large number of bikers celebrated their victory of what had been a long battle that took several months. Manuel Valls has now officially decided to permanently scrap the ludicrous and non-sense proposals put forward by Claude Guéant, his predecessor, who had been ejected from the French government following last year’s presidential elections. The battle, which involved a series of national demonstrations gathering over 100,000 bikers and bringing the whole country to a complete stop, has obviously paid off and brought a fantastic result.
Guéant initially proposed the compulsory wear of reflective jackets and, with the enormous pressure he was put under with thousands of angry bikers who kept blocking the roads all over the country, he decided to back off and restrict the reflective clothing to only 150cm2 between the waist and the shoulders. But this was not good enough – the bikers demanded full scrapping of the proposals, which they have now finally obtained.
This was one of the most laughable and absurd proposals we had ever heard of because a) reflective clothing is precisely not reflective during day light, b) it is already compulsory to ride with headlights turned on, which makes riders clearly visible and c) those who ride machines of up to 125cc would have been exempt from wearing reflective clothing on the grounds that they don’t ride a powerful enough bike to be considered dangerous on the roads! Let’s not forget that a very large number of motorcyclists who ride a moped or a 125cc bike are precisely those who don’t hold a full motorcycle licence and have only attended at the very most a one-off 7 hour training course all together.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FFMC AND ALL BIKERS IN FRANCE!
There is nothing more productive than get together, stand up for our rights and fight against ludicrous public decisions that discriminate bikers against other road users and make our lives difficult when we use a mode of transport that should be encouraged, as it is the golden SOLUTION to reduce road congestion and air pollution. Demonstrate, stand up for our rights, fight against our government’s ludicrous proposals that put the future of motorcycling in danger – are these what perhaps British bikers should do more by following the example of their French neighbours?

Whilst French bikers have remarkably won the reflective clothing battle, they now have to continue their fight against their government to make traffic filtering (or “lane splitting” to use the North American terminology) legal in France.

 

I live here in France that's not to say some of these laws may pass me unnoticed, but I agree with Stelyn that there are many rumours which surrounds motorcycle touring here in France really not sure where the rumours where they originate from. Believe it or not the French love the motorcyle just not the idiots who ride like idiots, considerate careful riding is more than welcome. Just seen this on Britany Ferry site http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/media ... erries.pdf it may help those less experienced and keep the Gendarmes off you backs.

Thanks chaps.  Suspected it was a reinvented legislation.  But as you say everything is fluid in France.