A new French road sign, already evident on some parts of France’s motorway network, is being rolled out to the whole of France.
Following an official decree published on August 24, 2020, the new sign indicates that a lane has been reserved for carpooling, as well as certain categories of vehicle, including buses, cabs and very low-emission cars. The aim is to reduce carbon emissions by having more passengers in each vehicle. Permitted to use a lane with this sign are:
- Vehicles with at least two occupants (including motorbikes with a pillion passenger)
- Vehicles with a Crit’Air zero emission sticker (ie electric cars)
- Taxis (even if there are no occupants on board),
- Buses and other public transport vehicles
Hybrid rechargeable vehicles are not allowed to use this lane if they only have one occupant.
In some cases, the lane (or lanes) will only be reserved for certain times of day, and generally it will be the left-hand lane on motorways in order to limit disturbances that could be caused with exit lanes and passing. As such, there will be two variations of the sign.
- The first version is only meant for certain hours of the day, which is indicated either by the sign of a white diamond lighting up over the lane when active, or standing at the side of the road with a time slot indicated on it.
- The second option will be for lanes that are permanently reserved for carpooling. In this case, a white diamond marking will be visible on the road.
If a vehicle is not permitted to be in the carpooling lane, then a fine can be issued. This is enforced either via a police check or carpooling radar cameras which can estimate how many people are in a vehicle.