driving in certain communes

Winter tyre rules back in force

As winter approaches, motorists are again being urged to check their vehicles meet local safety rules when travelling to mountainous areas. Under the loi Montagne, 48 departments in France have been given powers to require cars to be fitted with winter tyres or snow chains on sections of the road network.

The new rules came into force last year, but after a grace period, any infringements this winter will now be enforced by a fine of up to €150, although not until January 2023. “It is important to give people time to adapt; this isn’t a repressive measure,” a spokesperson said.

The areas concerned are principally the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Massif Central, Jura and Vosges, but while the almost fifty departments have the powers to enforce the rules, they have currently only been introduced in a relstively small number of communes. In the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, for example, Haute-Vienne, Creuse and Corrèze all have the power, but are yet to use it. The measure currently affects 4,172 communes across 34 departments.

If you are planning to travel to an affected area, winter or all-weather tyres must be fitted to all four wheels and must be marked with either “M+S”, “M.S.” or “M&S”, and/ or the “snow mountain” logo must be valid. If you opt for snow chains or socks, these must be suitable for at least two “driving” wheels – for example, the rear wheels on a rear-wheeldrive vehicle - and the driver must be able to fit them unaided. The new rules also apply to foreign drivers.

Areas where the new rules are in force will be identified by road signs on entry (B58) and exit (B59) and apply at all times between 1st November and 31st March.

The 48 departments covered by the law are; Ain, Allier, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Hautes-Alpes, Alpes-Maritimes, Ardèche, Ariège, Aude, Aveyron, Cantal, Corrèze, Côte-d’Or, Creuse, Doubs, Drôme, Gard, Haute-Garonne, Hérault, Isère, Jura, Loire, Haute-Loire, Lot, Lozère, Meurthe-etMoselle, Moselle, Nièvre, Puy-de-Dôme, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées, Pyrénées-Orientales, Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin, Rhône, Haute-Saône, Saône-et-Loire, Savoie, Haute-Savoie, Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne, Var, Vaucluse, Haute-Vienne, Vosges, Yonne, Territoire de Belfort and the whole of the island of Corsica. ■

Squirrel cuts power to village

When a Dordogne village was plunged into darkness recently, locals were shocked to discover that the outage was all down to a squirrel. Two hundred households in La Bachellerie, near Térrasson-Lavilledieu, experienced a power outage following a small explosion on a local power line.

Once engineers from Enedis - the branch of EDF which maintains the country's electricity grid = arrived, they discovered the short circuit had been caused by the small écureuil, who unfortunately did not survive the accident.

According to a spokesperson for Enedis, this type of accident is incredibly rare, especially involving squirrels. When accidents do occur, they are more often caused by birds stretching their wings and accidentally touching two wires simultaneously. ■

FRANKLINS REMOVALS