The French capital has banned vehicles registered before the year 2000 in a bid to combat pollution in the city.
A law introduced in Paris on Monday requires all cars to have a sticker indicating which of six categories it fits into — indicating the year of the vehicle's registration, its energy efficiency, and its emission quantity.
Any diesel-run vehicle showing a 'Level 5' sticker on their windscreen, which indicates they were produced from 1997 to 2000, is not allowed on the road. Around six per cent of France's 32 million cars fall into this category.
Vehicles registered from earlier than 1997 and trucks and buses from before 2001 are not assigned to any category, meaning they are completely banned from driving in the city from Monday to Friday between 8am and 8pm.
In Paris, the ban applies for all roads inside the A86 motorway, the second ring road around Paris, but not the A86 itself, and anyone caught driving one of these cars in Paris risks a minimum fine of €22.
The new measures come after Paris and other cities recorded several severe smog spikes over the past two months.
Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris, said the policy was necessary to encourage motorists to “change their transport modes” in order to reduce traffic.
She said: “To tackle the source of the problem is notably encouraging motorists to change their modes of transport to reduce motor traffic.”
#pollution Veillez à respecter les mesures applicables pour le 22/01, et pour la #circulation différenciée le 23/01 👉https://t.co/4IddK7wQvd pic.twitter.com/w8Lt3vt4Zm
— Préfecture de police (@prefpolice) January 21, 2017
A national campaign group representing motorists, called ‘40 million motorists’ (40 millions d'automobilistes) argued the measures only served to disadvantage poor drivers, who cannot afford to buy new vehicles.
Two hundred European towns and cities have already initiated a similar measure, with Berlin enforcing it since 2008.
Around 48,000 people die from respiratory problems linked to air pollution per year, according one study cited by the French environment ministry.
Professor Jocelyne Just, an asthma and allergies consultant in France, told France Inter: “There is a growing number of children suffering from asthma and allergies. And it’s getting worse, we’re seeing new allergies.
“It’s the repercussions of pollution. It’s the environment of our Western society that has caused the emergence of these illnesses.”
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