Driving in France: Rules, Licences, Insurance and Registration for Newcomers

For most people who move to France a car is essential from the first week. The rules are not difficult, but several differ from what American and British drivers are used to, and a few carry deadlines that start running the moment you become resident. This guide sets out what applies in 2026, from your licence and an imported car to the road rules, insurance, the contrôle technique (France’s periodic roadworthiness inspection) and the Crit’Air sticker.

Can you drive on your current licence?

It depends on where the licence was issued, not on your nationality.

EU and EEA licences stay valid in France for as long as they are valid at home. You only exchange one for a French licence after an offence in France that carries a points penalty, if the licence is lost, stolen or about to expire, or to add a category.

UK licences are covered by the agreement the UK and France signed in 2021. A licence issued before 1 January 2021 remains recognised until it expires. One issued from 2021 onwards is treated like any other non-EU licence and must be exchanged within a year of your becoming resident.

US licences can only be exchanged if the issuing state has a reciprocity agreement with France, and the list of states that do is shorter than most people expect. If yours is on it, you apply through ANTS (the Agence Nationale des Titres Sécurisés, the national online agency for licences and registration documents). If it is not, there is no exchange: after your first year you must pass the French written and practical tests.

That year runs from the date you establish normal residence in France, which for most visa holders means the validation of the first long-stay visa. Our guide to the French driving licence exchange covers the state-by-state list, the documents and the fee.

Registering a car you have brought with you

A foreign-registered vehicle must be registered in France within one month of your taking up residence. The application goes through the ANTS portal for the certificat d’immatriculation, still universally called the carte grise. The file needs:

• proof of identity and of your French address, plus the foreign registration certificate;
• proof of conformity: a European certificate of conformity (COC) from the manufacturer or an identification attestation from its French representative. A vehicle with no EU type approval, which includes most US-specification cars, first needs individual approval (réception à titre isolé) from the regional DREAL, which can be expensive or impossible;
• the tax document: a quitus fiscal from the tax office for a car from another EU country, or the customs clearance certificate 846A for a car from outside the EU, which since 1 January 2021 includes the UK;
• a contrôle technique report less than six months old if the car is more than four years old.

Customs duty, the transfer-of-residence relief and the conformity step decide whether importing is worth it at all, so read our guide to importing your car to France before you book the shipping.

The rules of the road that catch newcomers

Speed limits are in km/h:

• 130 km/h on motorways (autoroutes), 110 in rain;
• 110 km/h on divided highways with a central median, 100 in rain;
• 80 km/h on ordinary two-way roads with no central separation. Since the 2019 mobility law, departmental councils can restore 90 km/h on their own roads, and some have, so on a rural road the limit is whatever the last sign said;
• 50 km/h in built-up areas, from the sign bearing the town’s name to the same sign crossed out.

Drivers on a probationary licence (permis probatoire, the first years after passing the test) are limited to 110, 100 and 80 respectively.

Priorité à droite. At a junction with no signs or markings, traffic arriving from the right has priority. The rule is suspended wherever you see the yellow diamond that marks a priority road, and reinstated by the same diamond with a black bar through it.

Roundabouts. At almost every modern roundabout, signed with a yield sign, vehicles already on the ring have priority; a few older unmarked ones still run on priorité à droite.

Alcohol. The limit is 0.5 grams of alcohol per litre of blood, lower than in most US states, and 0.2 g/L for probationary drivers, which in practice means none at all.

Phones. Holding a phone while driving costs a fixed fine of €135 and three points. Earbuds, headphones and earpieces have been banned at the wheel since 2015; only a built-in hands-free system is tolerated.

Seat belts and children. Belts are compulsory in every seat. A child under 10 must travel in an approved restraint suited to their size, and may not sit in the front except in limited cases such as a rear-facing baby seat or a car with no rear belts.

Headlight flashes in France usually mean the other driver is coming through or there is a hazard ahead, not the invitation to proceed that British or American drivers might read them as.

What must be in the car

• A high-visibility vest with CE marking, kept within reach rather than in the trunk, and an approved warning triangle. You must be able to produce both at a roadside check.
• A breathalyser is no longer required; the obligation was removed by decree in May 2020.
• Headlights that dip to the right. Visitors in right-hand-drive cars fit beam deflector stickers; a car being registered in France needs its headlamps adjusted or replaced for driving on the right, which the contrôle technique checks.
• Winter equipment in mountain areas. Under the loi Montagne, from 1 November to 31 March vehicles in designated communes of 34 mountain departments must have four winter tyres bearing the 3PMSF snowflake symbol or carry chains or snow socks for two drive wheels. The zones are signposted where they begin.

Insurance

Third-party liability cover (responsabilité civile) is the legal minimum and covers damage or injury you cause to others. Comprehensive cover (tous risques) is optional but sensible for a car you have just shipped across an ocean.

The green card and its windscreen sticker were abolished on 1 April 2024. The police now check the Fichier des Véhicules Assurés, the national insurance register, and your insurer gives you a Mémo Véhicule Assuré for your records instead.

French insurers will ask for the licence, the carte grise or proof that registration is under way, proof of address, and a claims history from the previous insurer. In our experience a dated letter in English confirming your years without a claim is usually accepted and can make a real difference to the premium under the French bonus-malus system. A bilingual insurance broker we work with can quote on that basis.

The contrôle technique

A car must pass its first contrôle technique in the six months before the fourth anniversary of its first registration, then every two years. There is no reminder letter, and a recent certificate is required when you register an imported car.

Since 15 April 2024 the inspection has also applied to motorbikes, scooters and other two- and three-wheelers: first at five years, then every three, with older machines phased in by year of registration through 2026.

Crit’Air stickers and low-emission zones

The Crit’Air sticker classifies a vehicle by its emissions and is ordered only from the official site, certificat-air.gouv.fr. It is required in a low-emission zone (zone à faibles émissions, or ZFE) and during pollution-peak restrictions.

Parliament voted to abolish the zones in the 2026 law simplifying economic life, but on 21 May 2026 the Conseil constitutionnel struck that article out on procedural grounds, so the ZFEs remain in force. The restrictions differ from one metropolitan area to the next, so check the local rules before driving an older diesel into a big city, and expect the question to return to Parliament.

Get on the road with French Connections HCB

The difficulty is rarely the rules themselves; it is that the licence clock, the registration deadline and the insurance all land in the same first weeks. French Connections HCB handles driving licence exchanges and vehicle registration as part of our administrative support and can introduce you to a bilingual insurance broker. To talk it through before you arrive, book a consultation and we will map out what needs doing and when.