Small article in the ST today about the penalties for certain infringements in France. Nothing very surprising except that if you are stopped for a failed bulb you can be fined £110. How will this work with some cars, Audis come to mind, when a headlight bulb change can involve the removal of the front bumper?
Another one is that not having beam adapters fitted can result in a £110 fine and could invalidate your insurance on the basis that a vehicle without them fitted is legally unroadworthy!
Not having the breathalyser kit is a £14 fine but won't be enforced until 1st November
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not bent my beams in France for about ten years now, Never been a problem.
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>> not bent my beams in France for about ten years now, Never been a problem.
>>
Part of the ritual to put the deflectors on while waiting for the ferry. Usually a few others doing same and/or looking for advice.
Painting them yellow was a PITA though - glad to see that go!! .
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>> >> not bent my beams in France for about ten years now, Never been a
>> problem.
>> >>
>>
>> Part of the ritual to put the deflectors on while waiting for the ferry. Usually
>> a few others doing same and/or looking for advice.
>>
>> Painting them yellow was a PITA though - glad to see that go!! .
My new car has a 'flat beam' so no benders required but not sure if I could explain that to a Gendarme.
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>> Painting them yellow was a PITA though - glad to see that go!! .
>>
Did you not get off to the local Hypermarche and buy some yellow jacketed bulbs? I've still got one in the spare bulbs draw.
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You are right! I go quite often and there are horror stories about the roads from the ferry and tunnel being staked out by malevolent and vindictive flics. Never seen them once! However, worth a heads-up of what could happen.
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>> You are right! I go quite often and there are horror stories about the roads
>> from the ferry and tunnel being staked out by malevolent and vindictive flics. Never seen
>> them once! However, worth a heads-up of what could happen.
Never seen the malevolent flics either M. Mind you we usually cross on Sunday afternoon so they're probably off duty.
In the days before the French controls were in England it was common to drive out of Calais without seeing hide nor hair of Gallic officialdom.
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...How will this work with some cars, Audis come to mind, when a headlight bulb change can involve the removal of the front bumper?...
It's been an EU requirement for some years that headlight and other bulbs can be changed at the roadside with little more than a screwdriver.
So it should be less of a problem as the older hard-to-change cars come off the road.
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Surprised on that comment, as Spain has dropped the requirement to carry spare bulbs as they've recognised there was more accidents caused by changing bulbs beside the road than caused by defective lighting.
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From an Audi Forum This model doesn't sound like a roadside job. Who has Torx bits in their tool kit?
On a 2004 A4 you have to remove the headlamp to change the bulb. There are 2 torx headed screws that have to be removed on top of the headlight & there are 2 hidden torx headed screws down behind the headlight that have to be loosened as the headlight fitting has slots that pull out from this. The headlamp shell has to be wiggled out & a cover removed from the back (which is held on by a spring clip) to access the bulbs.
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>> From an Audi Forum This model doesn't sound like a roadside job. Who has Torx
>> bits in their tool kit?
< Cough > Er me. There are more Torx headed stews in a modern car than any other type.
edit primarily because it makes them easier and faster to assemble in the factory when using power tools
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 24 Jun 12 at 09:35
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The case I quoted (Audi) doesn't sound like an easy job even with the right tools. Back to French aspect - if you can't change your blown bulb at the roadside, with or without the tools needed, what is the way forward? Tow to the nearest garage? Call out breakdown service?
Last edited by: Meldrew on Sun 24 Jun 12 at 09:54
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Interestingly,some of the most difficult bulbs to change are on French cars.So what do the natives do?
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Re older vehicles.
MkII Mondeo. Remove three plastic plugs and the jiggle the radiator cover off.
Undo a couple of screws, release plastic clips carefully and the remove the grill.
Using a fairly large ended screwdriver ( now added to onboard tools) remove two screws and slaken a third making sure not to attack the adjusters in error.
Then there is access to change the bulbs.
Learning from a Jaguar forum the X Type is a PITA to change bulbs.
Much blood spilt even using the recommended bent coat hanger as a tool.
( Childrens hands do fit but often folks resort to removing the battery with all the tauma that entails when reconnecting )
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Lancer
Open bonnet
reach behind light
unclip rubber boot
remove bulb holder
unclip bulb.
Replacement is reverse the above
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>> Re older vehicles.
>> MkII Mondeo. Remove three plastic plugs and the jiggle the radiator cover off.
>> Undo a couple of screws, release plastic clips carefully and the remove the grill.
>> Using a fairly large ended screwdriver ( now added to onboard tools) remove two screws
>> and slaken a third making sure not to attack the adjusters in error.
>> Then there is access to change the bulbs.
>>
I didn't need to do that on my Mk2 Mondie's to change the bulbs... tight for space, by do-able.
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>> Interestingly,some of the most difficult bulbs to change are on French cars.So what do the
>> natives do?
>>
Being fluent in the ways of the country they are probably cut a little slack.
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I would be surprised if anyone has ever been charged with failing to carry a spare light bulb in France.
Anyone able to prove me wrong?
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You would! It isn't a legal requirement to carry them, according to the ST which may be incorrect. Other websites give conflicting info. On balance, for what they cost there isn't much point in not carrying them.
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>> On balance, for what they cost there
>> isn't much point in not carrying them.
>>
+1
Both cars have a spare bulb kit stowed in the boot 24/7/365
Headlights pretty simple in Xantia and 'lingo. Only problem is both have limited 'wiggle' space behind fitting due battery/aircon/canbus loom etc.
Changed one on Xantia before leaving friends in N Wales about 6 weeks ago. Which reminds - there's now only one spare in the kit.
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The natives don't bother. Bulbs are only replaced at the two-yearly test time. No-one seems to take any notice.
Among the many recently-introduced offences is watching TV or a DVD while moving. Apparently introduced to counter a growing problem of accidents caused by bored lorry drivers watching their laptops. Fine is allegedly €1500.
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No headlight bulbs on my old one. Where am I going to carry a couple of 7 inch sealed beams on the Grand Tour ?.
Ted
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Remember what a revelation 12V was over 6V?
Then along came sealed beam (I've just looked on eBay, you can still get them, even in five and three quarters).
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No malevolent flics for us either. The one time we were stopped, I realized that we had our licences but I'd left the vehicle and insurance documents back at the gite. No problem, he said, just make sure you have them en cas d'accident.
There were no questions about light adaptors, bulbs, hi-vis or fire extinguishers - all of which the shop at Portsmouth docks was trying to scare people into buying last time we sailed from there. This time we lost our magnetic GB plate (ridiculous that a car could be supplied here without GB flashes on the number plates, but that's for another thread) but no-one seemed to care.
Incidentally, the Large Estate Car has a 'flat' setting to its headlights. It's only a switch to select it, but the manual warns that the bi-xenon units contain dangerous voltages and I should leave it to a dealer workshop. True or not, mine did it FOC, and will reverse it free when I ask them to. Skoda Superb owners can flatten theirs from the dashboard computer.
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I can swap my Xenon's over to LHD mode in the menus of the MFD. And when they are on you see them move over. I'm not likely to use this as the places I will visit are likely to be Greece and Italy - a long drive.
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>> Incidentally, the Large Estate Car has a 'flat' setting to its headlights. It's only a
>> switch to select it, but the manual warns that the bi-xenon units contain dangerous voltages
>> and I should leave it to a dealer workshop. True or not, mine did it
>> FOC, and will reverse it free when I ask them to. Skoda Superb owners can
>> flatten theirs from the dashboard computer.
>>
My German ’Large Estate Car' needs no alterations either from the computer or a switch under the bonnet; the beam is just flat all the time.
Another German 'Large Estate Car' (New A6) is adjusted via the dash computer as well.
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>> My German ’Large Estate Car' needs no alterations either from the computer or a switch
>> under the bonnet; the beam is just flat all the time.
Mine moves from left to right with light pattern... as in adjust the light pattern for the side of the road you are on. You'd want to illuminate the road correctly. Not tried mine in earnest but the static turn lighting might also work differently?
But I should have thought to say.... not all cars have dynamic lighting that bends the lights. Mine puts on static lighting as an extra when indicating or you are turning the wheel etc.
Didn't think a BMW 3 series was large - 5 series would be large.
Edit: A900s you sure yours shouldn't be altered? Light gets thrown across the road too by head lights. It's not just up/down adjustments.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Mon 25 Jun 12 at 00:23
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Years ago I asked why we never see our continental visitors using beam deflectors and was told it was because they used flat top beams, or did at the time.Auid A8 satnav knows which side of the Channel you are on and adjusts the beam to suit, at a price!
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Three years ago, I managed to drive from Hampshire to Trentino in Northern Italy, via France, Belgium (a bit of) the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and of course Italy, without encountering officials of any kind (waved through by the French border peeps without stopping). During the entire journey, I didn't so much as remove my driving license, passport, insurance documentation or any of the other accompanying paperwork from the envelope in the glove compartment.
Doing it all again in August. Can't wait. I never grew out of road trips :-)
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Yeah - and me. I even had my Swiss Motorway Carnet displayed, so they just opened the gates and waved me through.
I love road trips. I need to do another.
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Like others I cannot recall producing anything for the car to officialdom at anytime in nigh on 25yrs of driving in France. Passports were waved but not examined crossing and re-crossing between France and Switzerland.
French garage asked for my 'carte grise' which apparently is equivalent of V5 but only to determine the exact model before ordering a new silencer for the Xantia.
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>> Yeah - and me. I even had my Swiss Motorway Carnet displayed, so they just
>> opened the gates and waved me through.
SWMBO had a very bizarre experience buying our Austrian Carnet in a service area just outside Innsbruck. I stayed with the car and the sleeping kids, and she went in to buy the Carnet.
She was greeted with a scene much like Moe's Bar in the Simpsons, with a long, dingy bar full of drunk men, several of whom were making rather bizarre hissing, clicking noises in her direction. This was at about 6 in the morning.
She looked rather traumatised and confused when she returned to the car.
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>> She was greeted with a scene much like Moe's Bar in the Simpsons, with a
>> long, dingy bar full of drunk men, several of whom were making rather bizarre hissing,
>> clicking noises in her direction. This was at about 6 in the morning.
>>
>> She looked rather confused when she returned to the car.
>>
She wasn't sure if she would have been better off staying in the bar?
;-)
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It is a perfect scenario for the testing of S*d's Law! If you take every single required item of equipment and paperwork with you you will not be stopped. If you leave even one behind you will be stopped, maybe once in each country you pass through, and give the Great Telling Off of 2012 and maybe a fine too!
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>>
>> Didn't think a BMW 3 series was large - 5 series would be large.
>>
>> Edit: A900s you sure yours shouldn't be altered? Light gets thrown across the road too
>> by head lights. It's not just up/down adjustments.
>>
BMW 5 series from some point in 2011 need no adjustment. Both halogen and Xenon according to handbook. The cars from 2010 to whenever it was in 2011 have a lever behind the headlights that needs moving.
My 5 series is 2012 so no adjustment needed. Having said that, the headlights are so poor, they wouldn't ever dazzle anyone.
Last edited by: a900ss on Mon 25 Jun 12 at 18:26
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Fined for not carrying spare bulbs.
>>You would! It isn't a legal requirement to carry them, according to the ST which may be
>>incorrect. Other websites give conflicting info. On balance, for what they cost there isn't
>>much point in not carrying them.
Most sources fail to get this correct. The true state of the law is that if you are spotted with a failed bulb then you are at risk of being fined. If, however, you are able to produce a spare bulb to rectify the problem, then the risk of fine goes away.
There is accordingly no "fine" for "failure to carry" these bulbs, per se.
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>> Most sources fail to get this correct. The true state of the law is that
>> if you are spotted with a failed bulb then you are at risk of being
>> fined. If, however, you are able to produce a spare bulb to rectify the problem,
>> then the risk of fine goes away.
>>
>> There is accordingly no "fine" for "failure to carry" these bulbs, per se.
Interesting, I didn't know that.
Of course, this raises the question of what happens when you are driving one of the many poorly designed cars on the road, on which the manufacturer has not made provision for bulbs to be replaced easily at the roadside? You can produce your spare bulb kit when asked, but do they then expect you to start removing bumpers, grilles and other bits and pieces on the hard shoulder of a motorway to replace the offending bulb?
Given that the worst offenders for designing cars with awkward / impossible bulb access are the French, and in particular Renault, it's quite ironic that France should be the country where this policy is most rigidly enforced.
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>>it's quite ironic that France should be the country
>> where this policy is most rigidly enforced.
But thats the point, Its not. Enforced that is.
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Driving on the Continent - Zero
