Small speeding violations are less punishable by law since the transition to 2024. What are the new penalties?
In 2020, 12.5 million fines were issued in France for speeding. More than half, 58% precisely – or 7.25 million – concerned excesses equal to or less than 5 kilometers/hour. Often annoying for motorists, these small traffic offenses will be less heavily punished in recent days. Since January 1, 2024, small speeding violations, meaning less than or equal to 5 km/h, no longer result in points being withdrawn from the driving license. Until then, exceeding speeds between 0 and 20 km/h, both in town and outside built-up areas, cost 1 point.
In 2024, if you are flashed at a speed that does not exceed the authorized limit by 10 km/h, you will no longer lose points. Why 10, because a margin of error of 5km/h is always applied to the speed chosen. For example, if you are stopped at 60km/hour on a road limited to 50km/h, the speed retained is 55km/h after the application of the margin of error, which constitutes an excess speed of 5km/h . Until December 31, 2023, such an offense would have caused you to lose 1 point on your driving license; this is no longer the case since January 1.
Does this mean that you no longer risk anything if you speed less than or equal to 5km/h? No way. If the withdrawal of a point has disappeared, the fine is still applicable. So, if you exceed the authorized speed by a small km/h (on the speed chosen after applying the margin of error), you will still have to take out your credit card. The financial penalty has not changed with the change of year for speed violations between 0 and 20 km/h: the fine is still 135 euros in the city (where the maximum authorized speed is less than or equal to 50km /h) and 68 euros outside urban areas (where the maximum authorized speed is greater than 50 km/h).
Came into force in France in 1992, the driving license has a maximum capital of 12 points, acquired progressively during the probationary period. The number of points is automatically reduced following one or more offenses for which withdrawal is provided for by the Highway Code. If you lose all your points, your driving license is canceled and you will then be banned from driving a vehicle for 6 months. To get it back, you will need to retake the code test if you have had your driving license for more than 3 years. Otherwise, you will have to retake the code and conduct.
