Highways to the South of France, Italy and Switzerland are closed in parts due to poor air quality.
Five tourist areas currently introduced driving bans due to poor air quality. Paris, Strasbourg, Lyon, Annecy and Isère (Alpine region, Grenoble) have imposed traffic restrictions. Some cities had exclusion zones operating last month.
In these zones, cars without the Crit’Air environmental badge and with Crit’Air Class 5 – and in some cases Class 4 – are no longer allowed to drive. In the case of Isère, the whole department with its highways (A7 and A41 to 47) is affected. Stay up to date with Green-Zones.
In France, temporary air protection zones exist, where driving bans are only imposed within the environmental zones if air pollution is particularly high. This case is currently underway.
After many weeks of increased air pollution values, the government has now acted and declared driving bans in many parts of France. Tourists as well as professional drivers should be careful, because high penalties are imposed in the event of non-compliance and they will be followed up at your home address in due course.
If you do not have the required badge, it may be better to leave the car standing or drive around the environmental zones. However, anyone who has a badge marked 3, 2, 1 or E may continue to drive.