Diesel fumes to disappear from Paris as worst-polluting cars forced off roads

High-polluting diesel vehicles more than 15 years old have been banned from entering the Paris region on weekdays between 8am and 8pm as part of efforts to enforce a low emissions zone around the French capital.

The greater Paris area is clamping down on high-polluting vehicles – six months later then planned. AFP/File

Heavy goods vehicles, buses, coaches and motorised two-wheelers registered before July 2004 are also affected by the restrictions, which took force on 1 June – six months later then planned.

They apply to traffic moving within the perimeter of the A86 motorway that encircles the inner suburbs of greater Paris, in a region known as Ile-de-France. 

Under a sticker system known as Crit'Air, drivers in the Ile-de-France are required to display a numbered, colour-coded marker on their windscreen that indicates their car’s pollution ranking.

The latest restrictions apply to vehicles carrying a Crit’Air 4 category sticker, with level 5 vehicles having already been banned. Some 410,000 registered vehicles carry Crit'Air 4 or 5 stickers.

The six "Crit'Air" stickers: the top one is for electric cars, the rest goes to petrol and diesel-fuelled cars and is also determined by age and make of the vehicle. © Ministry of Ecological Transition France

Drivers caught flouting the rules face fines of between 68 and 135 euros, although penalties are not expected to be handed out under the end of the year. 

[THREAD] 🚘🌫️ À partir du 1er juin, la #ZFE connait une nouvelle expansion : les véhicules classés Crit'air 4 sont interdits de circulation à l'intérieur de l'anneau de l'A86 en semaine entre 8 et 20h. https://t.co/RCpxfUtXgQ

— 6t (@6tRecherche) May 31, 2021

Exemptions have been put in place for ambulances and other emergency or security vehicles, as well as those of charitable associations, removal companies or film or sports events. Collectors cars and those equipped with reduced mobility parking permits are also exempt. 

Greener Paris

In a bid to slash traffic, Paris city hall last month announced plans to set up a “low traffic zone” in the city centre by 2022.  

Under the proposal, vehicles would be banned from four central arrondissements, including the two islands on the Seine river – one of which is home to Notre-Dame Cathedral.

The zone would also include the medieval Marais quarter, the Louvre Museum and a large part of the historic Left Bank.