On the Road Again!

Unlike the rip-off money grab in London where the socialist anti motor vehicle Stalin charges non compliant £12.50 a day to pay to pollute, the European countries let you apply for a sticker for the front window that allows entry to cities and LEZ areas depending on you level of pollution.  France has Crit'Air and we have a class 2 vehicle.  Germany has a similar system but it's numbered the other way, so we have a class 4 sticker. This is for a Euro 6(D) vehicle.  They both cost less than £5 including postage and last the life of the vehicle!!! Theoretically, in times of high pollution, the city with the LEZ will issue a decree saying which number of sticker is allowed into the LEZ. If the decree, in France, says 2, then 3 and above are banned.   Currently Belgium has a free system, but is split into two, with Flanders and Wallonia being separate areas.  I have applied for the Flanders one and might try the Brussels one. These are electronic with no sticke...

The V5 log book arrived on Tuesday for Molly and I have just got around to ordering the Crit'Air certificate. It was a simple job to apply on the official site and €4.60 later I have it on its way in the post. I did it quite late and so it was this morning when I got the confirmation that it was done and dusted.

One went on perfectly. The other was a pain in the arse with a few bits missing and not sticking properly... Can you guess which went on okay and which didn't?

As we are starting to open up Europe to international travel by road, I decided to get the Crit'Air sticker sorted for Vera. I doubt when I go over in April that I will need it but I thought I might as well get it done and dusted. https://www.certificat-air.gouv.fr / I have yet to fit the new screen and it will go on there before I do!  It might be easier as it is a bugger to separate the bits of it!  I want it on the inside of the screen like it would be in a car. Vera comes out as Category 1. Which is the lowest  for a petrol engine  vehicle.   As usual with Google they have swallowed the money  of all the conmen and other shite that pay to have their adverts at the top.  It only cost €4.51 including postage to the UK from France.  Do not get conned by the thieves! Only use the official French Government site -  https://www.certificat-air.gouv.fr/en/demande-ext/cgu

Whilst I still harbour thoughts of visiting France sometime in the next decade I have looked into getting Vera sorted with a Crit'Air sticker in case I enter one of their draconian low pollution zones. Vera is in the 1st category. Be careful if you want to sign up, there are the usual thieves and scum that offer to help and Google places them above the genuine site.  Only use the official French Government site -  https://www.certificat-air.gouv.fr/en/demande-ext/cgu

With our 2020 Roadtrip for the summer in the planning stage I set about checking whether or not we would be passing through or near some of the low emission zones (LEZ) in the countries we are planning to visit.  Currently the route will go through France, Italy, Switzerland, France again, Belgium and France to channel port. I already have the Crit'Air sticker for France to go in the car later in the year, and once I have found a way of keeping the windscreen clean so that it sticks properly! But what of the other countries?  Switzerland seems the most obvious as we will be there for some miles and days.  They have a system called StickAir, it looks very much like the French system. At the moment it only covers the area in and around Geneva.  We aren't going there.  So no need for another sticker!  They ought to combine it with the motorway vignette which at 40CHF is a lot of money for a tourist visit. StickAir Switzerland

With imminent trips to France in 2020, I thought I'd see what areas I was planning to travel to and whether they need the air certificate to go there.  I entered all the details into the official website and was rewarded with a Level 2 pass. There are six levels. The "best" being for electric vehicles.  The Insignia is in the same category as the Rocket. Yay.  Unlike the ULEZ in London where the Mayor charges £12.50 a day for cars that fail the pollution test, Crit'Air has a ban on all vehicles by category. Pay to pollute alive and well in London.

In France there is a move towards reducing the level of congestion in the city and on the périphique and as a product of this to reduce pollution. The system is called Crit'Air . The movement is spreading to other areas of the country with major cities and départments signing up to the "lower emissions zones" (LEZ) idea. Essentially the idea is that when the air becomes bad, and it is usually in summer when the warmer air holds the smog in the air, that they can close areas of the city, and open them to lower emissions classes of vehicles.  And that is determined by the CO2 output of the vehicle. Every vehicle accessing the city must carry the crit-air sticker on the windscreen/shield on the right side lower. On the bike it goes on the upper right of the fork leg.  They even produced a video on how to affix it! Pepé is Cat 2.   As we intend to go to France in the summer, I have applied for a sticker at a cost of €4.21 including postage.   There is also an ...