What Changes Are Coming to the Roads in 2024

On the occasion of the New Year, the organization “40 Million Motorists” presents everything that will change for drivers starting January 1, 2024.

End of points withdrawal for minor speeding violations.

Starting January 1, 2024, speeding violations less than 5 km/h over the limit will no longer result in the deduction of a point from the driver’s license. However, penalties by fine will still apply, with a flat-rate fine ranging from €68 to €135. A decree dated December 6, 2023, states this.

Driving license eligibility lowered to 17 years old.

A decree from December 20, 2023, authorizes, from January 1, 2023, the issuance of category B driving licenses at 17 years old. Therefore, the driving theory test can be taken from age 15 for those enrolled in supervised driving, and from age 16 for others.

The new ZFE cities

The ZFE (Low Emission Zones) areas will be implemented in Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Rouen, and Strasbourg starting January 2024. For other cities that have not exceeded pollution thresholds, they are considered vigilance territories, giving them until December 31, 2024, to restrict the circulation of non-Crit’Air classified vehicles.

Toughening of the ecological penalty (malus).

From January 2024, the taxation applied to the most polluting vehicles will be intensified. Among other measures, the plan includes:

• strengthening the tax on carbon dioxide emissions from the most emitters of passenger vehicles and removing the cap on the malus at 50% of the vehicle’s purchase price,
• strengthening the tax on curb weight, known as the “malus mass.” The triggering threshold, currently set at 1.8 tonnes, is lowered to 1.6 tonnes, and a progressive scale is introduced,
• replacing the current annual tax based on vehicle age with a tax based on atmospheric pollutant emissions. Three rates of €0, €100, and €500 are applied depending on Crit’Air categories,
• reducing the depreciation coefficient applied to used vehicles from 10% to 5%,
• including in the scope of the malus vehicles such as “pick-ups” with four or more seats (compared to five or more today) and “off-road trucks” with five or more seats,
• limiting the benefit of the family benefits reimbursement to once every two years.

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