Paris ban on high polluting cars comes into force

A ban on old diesel cars has been introduced in Paris on weekdays in a bid to cut pollution in the city.

Having come into effect on July 1st, any vehicle with a Crit’Air 4 sticker — which denotes highly-polluting cars— will be prevented from entering the French capital between 8am and 8pm on Monday to Friday. Cars under this include pre-2006 diesel cars, along with motorbikes registered before January 1, 2004.

With this ban also affecting light trucks, French news organisation BFMTV expects around 800,000 vehicles in the Île-de-France region to be affected.

Christophe Najdovski, deputy transport director for the city of Paris, said: “The quality of the air is improving in Ile-de-France, but we want to speed up the process. It’s a question of public health. They can do it outside of these hours. We do not want to ban but simply limit polluting vehicles during the day”

Car drivers and motorbike riders found flouting the ban could be fined up to €68 (£60.86), while those behind the wheel of a light truck face a €135 (£120.83) charge. These fines also apply to any vehicle not displaying a Crit’Air sticker — including those foreign-registered.

It isn’t the only ban cars in Paris face as the French government looks to cut pollution. Since October, the first Sunday of each month has seen all cars prevented from entering the capital’s centre between 10am and 6pm.