French motorists in high pollution areas will be required to display a “clean sticker” on their vehicle from January to combat pollution that has created a cloud of noxious smog in Paris and other cities, reports The Guardian.
The six differently coloured Crit’Air (air criteria) stickers will be large enough for the police to see at a distance and will indicate the age of the vehicle, its engine and cleanliness on a scale of one to six.
Although emergency vehicles, vintage cars and certain delivery and security vans will be exempt from the regulation, to take effect from 16 January, stickers will be obligatory for motorbikes and scooters.
On weekdays, vehicles without the stickers will be banned from entering designated zones à circulation restreinte (ZCR - low-emission zones), which will be determined by local authorities based on pollution evaluations.
Announcing a raft of measures to combat the increasing problem of pollution in France’s cities, the ecology minister, Ségolène Royal, said the government was “taking the problem seriously”.
“What we now need is a revolution bringing clean transport, responsible cities, electric vehicles in cities and different ways of moving around,” Royal said.
The alternating traffic rule – in which cars with odd or even registration plates are banned from cities – was enforced for a record four days in Paris last week. It was dropped after the pollution improved over the weekend when the roads were less busy.