Critair?

[chaser]

Not overly worried about this but just having a play at getting one, one question ,what sort of vehicle so could only put commercial vehicle as it isn't a car or motorbike, so what do you put even though it doesn't say that on v5 .
Next one what's it want a photo of , I tried to do it with my phone but could hardly read it and in any case it said it was to big.
So give it up at the moment.
Has anyone had more luck?

 

[Littlewheels]

As an aside,I had Critair on my last two MH’s and currently awaiting for the V5 for my new MH so I can apply for one,,however, it occurred to me that all these Speeding tickets that people are getting from France might just be connected to this system.
I know about obtaining info from DVLA but it appears the French are sending out tickets wholesale not so much Spain or other EU countries and it could be connected, additionally, be just had six weeks away and didn’t see Critair Stickers on other MH’s

 

[Zigisla]

According to their website, if you are under 3500 you are a car and if you are over you are a truck.
https://www.crit-air.fr/en/informat...itair/who-will-get-which-critair-colours.html

 

[LesW]

the French are sending out tickets wholesale

I think they're only sending them to people that break their laws..

 

[chaser]

As an aside,I had Critair on my last two MH’s and currently awaiting for the V5 for my new MH so I can apply for one,,however, it occurred to me that all these Speeding tickets that people are getting from France might just be connected to this system.
I know about obtaining info from DVLA but it appears the French are sending out tickets wholesale not so much Spain or other EU countries and it could be connected, additionally, be just had six weeks away and didn’t see Critair Stickers on other MH’s

No don't think I'm going to bother now , probably change in November anyway, and don't intend going into any towns, but was just reading about it and thought for a fiver wouldn't hurt anything but you might have hit on something there, the fiver can't cover the administration, and you don't see more than one in ten French that have them.
But just in case I have another go how do you get a photo of it.?

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[Nirvanauk]

No don't think I'm going to bother now , probably change in November anyway, and don't intend going into any towns, but was just reading about it and thought for a fiver wouldn't hurt anything but you might have hit on something there, the fiver can't cover the administration, and you don't see more than one in ten French that have them.
But just in case I have another go how do you get a photo of it.?

I've just got one. Been putting it off as thought it looked complicated. It isn't. Just fill out the form on their website. If you can't answer the question then just leave it blank and they get all the info they need from your scanned V5C and attach it. It says that it must be less than 400kb in size . Mine was bigger and it didn't cause a problem.

 

[MattR]

It is only required in some areas of Paris and a couple of other cities at the moment. The scheme will probably expand.

 

[mikebeaches]

But just in case I have another go how do you get a photo of it.?

If you need to make the image smaller to upload, this website provides an easy solution:

Resize Images online

Online image resize utility to resize pictures or photos and images quickly for free. Resize jpg, png or gif pictures and Digital Photos. We make it easy to resize photos without installing any software.

www.shrinkpictures.com

 

[airwave]

It is only required in some areas of Paris and a couple of other cities at the moment. The scheme will probably expand.

Now i've got a question here . I've been thinking about getting one myself , yet i've also heard and read the same thing many times , plus my van can only clear a class 5 . Now the last time i looked there was a zone at La rochelle , Bordeaux , and down on the spanish border at Biarritz , pretty much covering the main route south to northern Spain . How do you get round them , or are they not active yet ? . On this route A10 you pass right through the centre of one of these towns , i think it's Bordeaux , how does that work ? . Just what is the story here ? .

 

[Wilberforceftw]

We got one as going to Lyon which is in a zone. Only realised 2 says before going so just printed the confirmation email and put the picture of the cert and code in windscreen.

Asked the campsite we are at and they said many french people dont think it applies to them so not likely need. For 4 euros easier to have than not I think

You can find out where is affected on the following link to an app.

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[ceejayt]

Get the app Green-Zones and put in your vehicle info. They provide a map and based on your vehicle they will tell you whether you are allowed to drive in an area or not.

You can also get the stickers through the app. Easier but they charge more

 

[ceejayt]

I have stickers for France, Germany and Austria

 

[MattR]

Now i've got a question here . I've been thinking about getting one myself , yet i've also heard and read the same thing many times , plus my van can only clear a class 5 . Now the last time i looked there was a zone at La rochelle , Bordeaux , and down on the spanish border at Biarritz , pretty much covering the main route south to northern Spain . How do you get round them , or are they not active yet ? . On this route A10 you pass right through the centre of one of these towns , i think it's Bordeaux , how does that work ? . Just what is the story here ? .

The restrictions come into effect if the air quality is poor - those without stickers and crit 5 being banned first.

There is more info and a map showing the air status here: https://www.crit-air.fr/nc/en/infor...ntal-zones-zcr/girondebordeaux-zone-zpad.html

 

[Grianan]

I got the Umwelt and the CritAir ... I knew we would need the Umwelt ... turns out we won’t need the CritAir this time but it cost next to nothing and it’s either France or Scottish Highlands in October ... depending on weather forecasts.

 

[MattR]

I got the Umwelt and the CritAir ... I knew we would need the Umwelt ... turns out we won’t need the CritAir this time but it cost next to nothing and it’s either France or Scottish Highlands in October ... depending on weather forecasts.

The issue for some is that their vehicles are either too old for a Crit d'air or they will have a Crit 5 which is the first to be restricted in sensitive areas / times so it is worth knowing the limitations ahead of visits.

Even outside of the main restricted area in the Paris peripherique, there are local restrictions which an old UK registered campervan (no Crit d'Air) had to cut through - 500 M through restricted roads in the Bois de Boulogne or 3km diversion through unrestricted roads in residential areas .... I'm not sure what the environmental reason for the restriction was. There were however, reports of even older campervans parked up on roads in the Bois so I wonder what the enforcement is like.

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[Pete5996]

You can find out where is affected on the following link to an app.

Just a heads-up. Get information from this site but don't be tempted to buy your sticker through them, as you'll pay a heavy surcharge.
Buy directly from the official site, at about £4.50 delivered: https://www.certificat-air.gouv.fr/en/

 

[tonyl]

The restrictions come into effect if the air quality is poor - those without stickers and crit 5 being banned first.

There is more info and a map showing the air status here: https://www.crit-air.fr/nc/en/infor...ntal-zones-zcr/girondebordeaux-zone-zpad.html

crit-air.fr is part of the green-zones.eu family of websites designed, as stated above, to fleece the unsuspecting into parting with their money for an overpriced sticker. From its Terms of Service: 'Green-Zones GmbH (hereinafter referred to as Green-Zones) operates various internet portals for commercial purposes under the name Green-Zones and offers customers environmental badges and registrations for various countries in its online order shops.'

Do we have any members on here who are residents of one of these ZPAD zones (or live near enough to have been informed by an authority of some sort) who can tell us exactly how they work?

The Green-Zones page in the link says 'the prefect will communicate with a press release the exact extension of the area affected by concrete traffic restrictions'. How will that reach all road users in a timely fashion, especially those driving through? I can't imagine the French authorities are relying on an app provided by a German company to be the main method of communication.

The page then goes on to state 'In any case, it should be noted that in the event of an air pollution alarm, the highways A10 (to and from Paris, Orléans and Poitiers), A62 (to and from Toulouse), A63 (to and from Bayonne) and A65 (to and from Pau) could be affected.' Does this mean that these are the only roads which could be affected? If so, I suppose it would be possible to communicate with autoroute users via the overhead gantries and/or at toll booths. If it applies to any other roads, however, users will be more difficult to reach.

I'm very suspicious of anything on any of the web sites associated with Green-Zones. I don't have their app on any of my devices, funnily enough! I do have a sticker.

 

[Chris]

I have stickers for France, Germany and Austria

So do I.

I had better not post what they say though

 

[HandyAndy]

If you need to make the image smaller to upload, this website provides an easy solution:

Resize Images online

Online image resize utility to resize pictures or photos and images quickly for free. Resize jpg, png or gif pictures and Digital Photos. We make it easy to resize photos without installing any software.

www.shrinkpictures.com

Or just scan it at a lower resolution to start with

 

[chaser]

Or just scan it at a lower resolution to start with

How do you do that with a phone?

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[mikebeaches]

Or just scan it at a lower resolution to start with

Ah, indeed - good point. I've just investigated the settings on my phone and can see how to reduce the resolution of the image now - all pretty straightforward when you know what you are doing...

I occasionally used the above site in the days before my phone became my camera.

 

[mikebeaches]

How do you do that with a phone?

I managed to find a menu in the 'camera' mode on the phone, and then a section to adjust the resolution.

Live and learn...

 

[Marty Gilly and Pup]

The problem with this is many zones exist but have never been declared active. This could be done by the authorities at any time for the following day/week/month or whatever. At a stroke all those currently driving without stickers become illegal so you could be within an area and not be able to travel in any direction on any road. Unlikely they would pull everyone but it will be very efficient tax collecting if they do. Only Paris and a couple of others have permanent status. The rest covers huge swathes of France though.
Cheap to cover yourself. No brainier really.

 

[klaatu]

Do we have any members on here who are residents of one of these ZPAD zones (or live near enough to have been informed by an authority of some sort) who can tell us exactly how they work?

We live in a ZPAd. As far as I know it hasn't been activated yet, and the only information I have about it is that which you can read on web sites. We have had no communication about it from the authorities.

 

[Littlewheels]

I think they're only sending them to people that break their laws..

Perhaps,but they are targeting the British specifically and we all know why.

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[MattR]

Perhaps,but they are targeting the British specifically and we all know why.

Any evidence of this?

 

[carolyn]

I did have one on my windscreen but the nice Autoglass man was able to move the Umweldt one easily enough but the French one is perforated paper so disintegrated. Because I am Mrs neurotic we are getting another but I am tempted to just keep it in the glove compartment on the off chance we head into an area where one is required. I did consider applying it to a piece of plastic but it does specifically say it has to be adherent to the windcreen directly.

 

[Mickthemove]

How do you do that with a phone?

Take the photo and then email it to yourself,but before you send the email, you have a resize option (on most phones) above the attachment, make it the smallest size and send to yourself and hey presto....well it worked for me anyway

 

[namwaldog]

Regarding reducing images or scans.?.

There are loads of very simple apps on Play Store that will do this for you...

I have this one on my phone...

Very simple to use (there is a tutorial when you first open the app)
It's free!! And only 8mb to download.
You can also crop images to get rid of the unwanted bits. See cropped image below..

 

[BwB]

Try emailing the photo to yourself. My phone asks me if I want to reduce the picture size, choose a lower size. Then either copy it out of the email into a folder or send it to yourself and copy the lowersized picture out into your folder (all depends on your own phone). But almost all email programmes ask if you want to reduce the size of pictures so something along these lines will work.

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