How many high-vis vests are you required to keep in your car in France?
Confusion remains over the road rules for yellow jackets
Reader Question: We keep seeing conflicting reports of how many yellow jackets we need in our car. We of course want to make sure we’re following the rules. Can you help?
All cars driving on French roads must of course adhere to driving rules in the country.
This includes rules requiring the vehicle to contain certain items, including valid driving documents (or electronic devices that contain legitimate digital versions), and a ‘warning triangle’ in case of a vehicle stopping on the side of the road.
Unlike in the UK and US, there is also a requirement in France to keep a yellow high-visibility (high-vis) safety vest (gilet jaune) in the vehicle, although there is often confusion about how many jackets are required.
Why is a jacket required?
The jacket must be kept in the vehicle in case of a breakdown on the motorway that requires the driver to leave the vehicle.
It must be put on by the driver before exiting the vehicle, so should be kept within arm’s reach of the driver’s seat, typically under the seat, in the glove compartment, in the pouch behind the seat, etc.
The jacket must conform to European regulations, with packaging or the jacket itself having a visible ‘CE’ marking to show this.
Failure to comply with this rule sees drivers risk a €38 fine if caught without one in a spot check, potentially rising to €750 if they did not have it on them at a time when needed (i.e during a breakdown on the roadside).
Authorities however say in the latter case, the most common fine is €135.
How many are required?
The requirement for a driver to put the jacket on before leaving the vehicle is interpreted by many to mean that anyone who leaves the vehicle when roadside must wear a jacket, and therefore each vehicle must have one jacket per passenger.
This is not correct.
Article R416-19 of France’s Code de la Route (driving rules) says only this:
“The driver must wear a high-visibility vest that complies with regulations when required to exit a vehicle that has stopped on the roadway [or hard shoulder] following an emergency stop. While driving, the driver must keep this vest within easy reach.”
No rule states that additional jackets must be kept in the vehicle, or even that they need to be worn by passengers who exit the vehicle.
However, it is heavily recommended to have additional yellow jackets in the vehicle for other passengers in the event of a breakdown.
While in theory passengers can remain in the vehicle until help arrives (it is only the driver that has to leave, for example to assess the problem with the vehicle), this may not always be practical.
Those who leave the vehicle are not legally required to wear the jacket when outside the car, although it is in their best interests to wear one in order to reduce the risks of any roadside accidents.
A common set up, and one that is usually recommended, is for one yellow jacket to be kept by the driver within arm’s reach, and then have several more in the boot of the car.
In the event of a breakdown, the driver can don their jacket, go to the boot to collect the other jackets, then pass them out to passengers before they get out of the car.
