I realise that it looks as if I’ve really got it in for France today, though it is a country I love and where I have many friends. But I learned just today that from the spring motorists will be required to carry not only the yellow safety vests and warning triangles but also a breathalyser – well this seems a bit much. The gendarmerie want to breathalyse you and you have to provide the implement. You then have to make sure you have a fresh one ready for the next time. There could of course be a market here for producing breathalysers which always read zero!
Boadicea's Chariot 
Yikes, Sheona, is this really so?
Utterly ridiculous, but I suppose if you don’t possess the means to incriminate oneself, one is fined. I agree, a device that reads zero could be a winner.
Another stupid French road law, just like the one about carrying spare light bulbs. I drive an Audi and like many new cars they have LED lights that cannot be replaced except by a garage. My colleague has a Mondeo and to replace the headlight bulb you have to drop the front bumper, not a thing to do at the side of the road.
I understand Peugot and Citroens are the same and require a mechanic to change a bulb
I carry spare bulbs for an old Audi when I go to France, but they don’t fit my car.
Oh my. Well, no driving in France for me then — not that I would have had the nerve to begin with.
In my experience they’re only marginally less insane as drivers than the Chinese.
This is the third attempt to reply to Araminta and RR. Let’s hope this one goes up.
Yes, Araminta, it is true. The number of road deaths in France went up again in 2011 as compared to 2010, so the Interior Minister is bringing in new measures to improve the statistics.
RR, I should imagine your spare bulbs would be sufficient to keep a gendarme happy. The problem is it’s always foreign registered cars that get picked on.