This January 1, 2025, the Low Emission Zone (ZFE) excludes Crit'Air 3 vehicles from its perimeter. That is more than 135,000 vehicles recorded in the metropolis of Lyon, without forgetting the 190,000 commuters who come to work every day with their car. A real revolution, which risks causing damage.
Since 2022, the ZFE has been supporting your daily life, even if very few of you were affected by the European Union directive to member countries with the aim of reducing pollution in large cities. The first year, in 2022, only heavy goods vehicles were affected by the restrictions, with the ban on vehicles with Crit'Air 3, 4 and 5 stickers from entering the central perimeter made up of Lyon, Villeurbanne, Bron, Caluire-et-Cuire and Vénissieux.
Then, the restrictive timetable for motorists was activated on January 1, 2023, with the exclusion of the Crit'Air 5. And at the beginning of 2024, with the Crit'Air 4 banned, including on the M6-M7, Boulevard Laurent -Bonnevay and the North ring road (BPNL).
This January 1, 2025, it is the turn of Crit'Air 3 vehicles to be banned from driving and parking in the Lyon ZFE. Final step before the last stage of the rocket planned for 2028, namely the banning of the Crit'Air 2.
The Crit'Air sticker, which classifies vehicles according to their polluting emissions of fine particles and nitrogen oxides, is not delivered with the car; you must request it on the dedicated government site. Suffice to say that many Grands Lyonnais are unaware that it is necessary to acquire it. And it is even worse among residents of neighboring departments who escape communication from the Metropolis of Lyon.
300,000 outlaws in Lyon?
The Crit'Air sticker is estimated to concern 135,000 vehicles in the Lyon metropolitan area. Or a quarter of the population of Lyon. Failure to comply with EPZ rules results in sanctions in the form of fines. Any person checked with a Crit'Air 3 vehicle in Lyon, Villeurbanne, Caluire-et-Cuire, Bron and Vénissieux will receive a class 3 fine. That is 68 euros for a light vehicle, and 135 euros for a heavy truck type vehicle. . A risk that many will take: what does the risk of being pinched at 68 euros represent compared to the thousands of euros necessary to suddenly acquire a clean vehicle?
Since 2023, 300 public highway surveillance agents, municipal and national police have been in charge of controls in the Lyon ZFE. But until now, few people have focused on the Crit'Air vignettes. In Villeurbanne, for example, the mayor has already publicly announced that he would pass instructions to his municipal police so as not to over-control stickers in his municipality.
The real ax threatens to take outlaw motorists by the throat in 2026. It is in the second half of next year that radars with automatic registration plate reading will be installed at key points in the 'agglomeration.
