Since January 1, 46,800 Crit'Air 3 vehicles have been banned from driving in the low-emission zone (ZFE) of the Lyon metropolitan area. An “ecological aberration” for certain residents who decided to take the road anyway.
“I am being forced to sell my car which works very well.” Like Franck, many Lyon motorists have found themselves illegal since January 1, 2025.
From now on, 46,800 vehicles classified Crit'Air 3 are now prohibited from taking the road to improve air quality in the low emissions zone (ZFE) of the Lyon metropolis.
“We need to stop bothering people.”
Exemptions aside, only drivers who use their car infrequently can benefit from the “small wheeler” system. By keeping their vehicle Crit'Air 3, 4 or 552 journeys per year, or one day per week, are authorized in the ZFE.
“I have the right to go to work 26 days a year, it’s a joke,” jokes Franck, a musician living in Caluire-et-Cuire, on our channel.
The latter is angry: his dark blue Peugeot 308 “from 2009” can no longer be driven. According to him, it is an “ecological aberration” to “force people to change something that works well”.
Same story in Villeurbanne, where Fabio, interviewed by Le Progès, criticizes the measure put in place by the community. “This hunt for old cars is pissing me off because if I keep my 15-year-old car, it's not for pleasure. I don't have the money to change it. And I need it to go to work”, he explains.
“I don’t see why I should part with it when it still works very well. We have to stop bothering people,” confides yet another motorist driving his Crit’Air 4 vehicle, banned for its leaves in the metropolis since January 1, 2024.
“We may have to move.”
“Instruments, crates, boxes, sound system”… Franck explains that he needs his vehicle to get to his concerts and transport his equipment. A journey according to him “impossible” to make by public transport.
The State conversion bonus to acquire a new vehicle having been abolished, only that of the mainland remains, amounting to €3,000 for the purchase of an electric vehicle.
A very insufficient amount for the musician from Caluire-et-Cuire, who decided to defy the ban. “As long as I don't get a fine, we will continue to live normally. But the day the fines start to fall, we may have to move,” he confides on BFM Lyon.
The fine amounts to 68 euros for a light vehicle and 135€ for a heavy one. Like Franck, nearly one in four motorists in the Lyon metropolitan area are affected by this new ban.
Jade Theerlynck with Alixan Lavorel
