Daktari Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 On the understanding that the new regulations requiring an approved alcohol breathalyzer to be carried in the vehicle will be legally enacted from July 1st onwards (though I've also read that the regulations will not be enforced until November), on my present holiday in Languedoc I've been looking in the motoring sections of a number of supermarkets for them. I've occasionally seen an empty rack, but have had no success in finding one. Am I looking in the wrong place ... or is there a national shortage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 Try looking on the wines/spirits aisle, that's where I found them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daktari Posted June 9, 2012 Author Share Posted June 9, 2012 [quote user="Jo"]Try looking on the wines/spirits aisle, that's where I found them![/quote]Thank you Jo, I've looked there too ... without success! I'll keep trying ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 Just don't get ripped off, I've bought them in Intermarche and Leclerc for 1 euro, but the newsagent in the same complex was selling them for 6 euros!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 I believe lack of supply is the principal reasons for the delay in enforcement.No real point in buying any until you actually have to though as they do have a limited life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loiseau Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 It seems to vary from one supermarket to another.I eventually found some hidden away in the car accessories section in my nearest HyperU. In another branch, there was a huge display that you could not miss that greeted you as you walked in the entrance.Angela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave21478 Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 Yes, the ones I looked at had a lifespan of under 6 months - I would say there is no point in buying them until November. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 All the ones I've seen have a best before date around Nov 2014! Not seen any with as short a shelf life as 6 months!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 I believe 24 months is a typical shelf life but apparently they do not like being stored in elevated temperatures (such as you might find inside a closed car on a hot Summers day !) so how one could rely on any reasonable level of accuracy in later life I'm sure I don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daktari Posted June 10, 2012 Author Share Posted June 10, 2012 Thanks for all the feedback - we've got another week enjoying the sun before head back to UK, so I'll keep looking, but won't be too anxious if I don't find any before our next trip in September. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 Enjoying the sun??????? WHERE??????? It's been chucking it down all day here!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeanS Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 No sun here just rain. I bought some on the ferry over - expensive but OH insisted. Tried Halfords before we came but they didn't have any. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daktari Posted June 10, 2012 Author Share Posted June 10, 2012 Enjoying the sun??????? WHERE??????? It's been chucking it down all day here!!!!!!!Light drizzle just started to fall (6pm) - otherwise sunny day (and each day for the past week since we arrived!) .... nr Thuir (west of Perpignan) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 I've found none locally here in all the large supermarkets as well. Ford did give me one free with my new car but you are supposed to carry two. The whole thing is too stupid beyond words and has made a lot of money already for the manufacturers and supermarkets before even coming into force. Wonder how the cheap units and their findings will stand up in a court when you think how unreliable they most probably are and being stored in very hot cars for months on end!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 The new law only requires that you carry one but in practical terms you do need two.Self testing will never stand up in court and is not meant to ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 [quote user="Val_2"] Wonder how the cheap units and their findings will stand up in a court when you think how unreliable they most probably are and being stored in very hot cars for months on end!![/quote]The point is the results from the cheap units won't be used in court, it will just give them an indication of whether they need to use their equipment to do a more reliable test, (which they then have to sterilize afterwards) or if you are well under the limit, and therefore don't need further testing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardian Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 [quote user="Val_2"]The whole thing is too stupid beyond words and has made a lot of money already for the manufacturers and supermarkets before even coming into force. [/quote]Couldn't agree more - it's 'kneejerk legislation', a bit like the swimming pool security law which came in some years ago. The very same pool alarms which cost €650 at the outset can now be bought for €250 and that's still highway robbery.Don't get me wrong, if many childrens' lives have been saved as a result of the legislation, then it was worthwhile, but it was a bonanza for the manufacturers and retailers.As for the breathalyzers, I just can't see the Gendarmerie worrying too much about 'best before' dates and whether they're still effective if they stop you for a controle. If they bother at all, they'll simply be interested in whether you've got one in the car.The real issue is changing mindsets in France over drinking and driving. It's better than it used to be, but still very far from perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugsy Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Lets just clarify something, there is NO requirement to carry two in your vehicle.I, like many others, never drink and drive and therefore would never need to self-test myself. I have one in each vehicle to produce if required and that is all the law requires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 And I dont drink (any more) and dont carry one, I doubt if I ever will as there is precious little storage space left to clutter up with irrelevancies.For those that are currently suffering anguish on this subject ask yourselves this question, after going through all this once before to ensure I had the right number of gilets in the correct place with the correct markings how many people do I know or have I heard of being verbalised for non conformity?How much is the hypothetical amende for not carrying a breathaliser, €13 or something? Its worth paying that just to bask in the publicity of being a teetotaller convicted for not being equipped to drink and drive [:D] not that it would ever happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 [quote user="Jo"]The point is the results from the cheap units won't be used in court, it will just give them an indication of whether they need to use their equipment to do a more reliable test, (which they then have to sterilize afterwards) or if you are well under the limit, and therefore don't need further testing.[/quote]The point is Jo is that they are for personal testing prior to driving and absolutely nothing else.If producing a negative self test were proof of anything then what would there to be to stop you blowing in it after the first couple of glasses of wine just to give you that and then proceeding to get slaughtered !No, whether you have used one or not and regardless of what is shows if they are minded to do so they will always test you with their own kit.Official calibrated breathalysers use cheap single use disposable plastic tubes for the driver to blow in so do not need sterilizing.It is a stupid and pointless law and I can't see how it's introduction is going to make any quantifiable difference to drink related accidents and deaths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Around here the local gendarmerie are all in bed before midnight and don't come out unless its a big emergency.Therefore they are not going to be on every road when all the local pi**pots come trundling home in their sans permis knocking down walls and in some cases last year, running over themselves cos they forgot to put the parking brake on! My daughter and her friend came home late a few years ago with her friend's father driving and because it was icy they skidded off the road in the next village and into the side of a house.They walked ten mins to the local gendarmerie to be met by the chef sergent in his PJ's telling them to come back next day as it was too late to come out and no one was injured! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betty Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Back to the OP.Last week, Carrefour Market (Dept 22) had plenty by the motoring section 2.20€ (for 2)None at Super U. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardian Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 I reckon that our local boulangerie should diversify."Un gros, deux fraises and a breathalyzer svp"."D'accord Gardian: do you want the breathalyzer sliced or in a lttle box with a ribbon round it?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 I bought mine from Feu Vert (Halfords-type shop) for 2€. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russethouse Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 The point is Jo is that they are for personal testing prior to driving and absolutely nothing else.Isn't the whole point to educate people as how little you actually can drink before you are over the limit......? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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