From 1is January 2025, vehicles with Crit'Air stickers (1) greater than 3 will no longer be allowed to circulate within a large part of the Caen-la-Mer perimeter. Or inside the Caen ring road. In the following 11 municipalities: Bretteville-sur-Odon, Caen, Carpiquet, Éterville, Hérouville-Saint-Clair, Ifs, Mondeville, Cormelles-le-Royal, Fleury-sur-Orne, Louvigny and Saint-Germain-la-Blanche- Grass. On the other side of the Seine, the city of Le Havre and that of Sainte-Adresse will also be affected. As well as some districts of Octeville and Fontaine-la-Mallet.
Read also: Low emissions zone in Caen: which vehicles will be excluded and within what scope?
The climate and resilience law promulgated on August 22, 2021 makes the establishment of low-emission mobility zones (ZFE-m) compulsory from 1is January 2025, in all towns with more than 150,000 inhabitants. The most polluting vehicles will no longer be able to drive there. Those equipped with Crit'Air green or Crit'Air 1 or 2 stickers, for their part, will be authorized to do so.
But let us rest assured: the urban community of Caen-la-Mer will proceed in stages. The 1is Next January, Crit'air 5 vehicles, those over twenty-five years old, will be banned.
Caen and Le Havre are following in the footsteps of the Metropolis of Rouen (Seine-Maritime), which since 1is September 2022 banned vehicles bearing Crit'air 4 and 5 stickers. Except for exceptions and special exemptions.
Here are the cities which are, or will be, affected by the establishment of an ZFE. Screenshot, Ministry of Ecological Transition
“Areas with high exclusion”
For some road users, these low emission zones are synonymous with “high exclusion zones”. Find here the testimony of Cosette, a resident of the Rouen metropolis. She and her octogenarian spouse, who own a diesel Renault Scénic classified Crit'Air 4, have felt trapped since the establishment of the ZFE in September 2022.
Read also: Excluding polluting cars from cities, a health imperative, a political headache
Relaxation in Rouen
As air quality has improved significantly since 2022 in the administrative capital of Normandy (-35% nitrogen dioxide concentration), Crit'Air 3 vehicles will be able to continue to drive in the metropolis beyond the 1is January 2025. Just like Strasbourg and Marseille, Rouen is no longer obliged to prohibit them from accessing its roads.
Read also: ZFE: four questions on the government's decline regarding polluting vehicles in the city
€68 fine
In the event of absence of a sticker, or without a real valid reason for exemption, the fines will range from €68 for light vehicles to €135 for heavy goods vehicles. In Caen-la-Mer as in Le Havre and Sainte-Adresse, an educational phase, which should last a few months, will precede the arrival of the sanctions.
(1) Affixed to the windshield, the Crit'Air sticker is used to identify the degree of pollution of the vehicle according to its age, its engine type and the fuel used. These stickers are classified from 1 to 5 “according to their polluting emissions of fine particles and nitrogen oxides”, state services indicate.
The price of a Crit'Air sticker is €3.77 per vehicle (€3.11 + €0.66 postage). It is valid for the entire life of the vehicle. Click here to request a sticker online.
