New ban on these roads from January 1 – fines are already planned

This new regulation, which will come into force on January 1, 2025, concerns many motorists.

Changes to 1^is January is not always good news. This new feature, which is scheduled to come into effect on our roads at the beginning of next year, is certainly one of them. A new regulation will undoubtedly shake up the habits of many motorists in a few days. Several million of them will be prevented from traveling as they wish in several large cities in France. Under penalty of being arrested and fined by the police.

Four large cities have decided to strengthen their anti-pollution system in 2025. In these cities of more than 150,000 inhabitants, a new category of vehicles will be prohibited from using the streets of several municipalities, mainly in city centers. If you own a petrol car registered before 2006 or a diesel car before 2011, then it will be impossible for you to drive in the Low Emission Zones (ZFE) of the metropolitan areas of Greater Paris, Greater Lyon, Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole and Grenoble Alpes Métropole. In fact, all cars identified as Crit'Air 3 – but also two and three-wheelers put into circulation before 2007 – will no longer be able to enter ZFEs, at certain times during the week or even 7 days a week.

Each large city has the possibility of adjusting its regulations. In Paris for example, this ban will be from Monday to Friday between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. In the municipalities of Greater Lyon and the Montpellier metropolitan area, it will be permanent. It will be a little more flexible in Grenoble because only during the week, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The same goes for the amount of fines. If an educational approach will be favored initially, the driver of a Crit'Air 3 vehicle in Paris will still risk a fine of 135 euros when the driver in Montpellier will be exposed to a penalty of 68 euros.

The Crit'Air 3 will thus join in a few days the Crit'Air 4 and 5, already banned from the ZFE. In Île-de-France alone, all these aging vehicles represent around 25% of the vehicle fleet, or more than a million motorists. Suffice it to say that this new regulation concerns many road users. For several years, it has been compulsory to have a Crit'Air sticker – from Crit'Air 0 for electric vehicles to Crit'Air 5 for the most polluting – for those who want to travel in certain geographical areas of large cities. The aim is to improve the quality of the air affected by automobile traffic.