Internet users claim that since July 1st, it is no longer possible to listen to music while driving, under penalty of a fine of 35 euros. Attention music lovers, this is false.
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In a video viewed more than a million times on the social network TikTok, an Internet user declares: “Don’t take your car anymore. With what they put in place from July 1st, I can assure you that we are all in the shit. You who are used to listening to music, it will be over. If you listen to music while driving, you will be fined 35 euros. You are not dreaming, you will be fined 35 euros. This is not fake news. Just go and type it on the internet. There is Google and you will see”.
On the search engine, we see other videos that assure the same thing and reading the comments, this statement is taken seriously by many Internet users. But it is false. Motorists have the right to listen to music while driving.
Concerning the volume of music, there are no precise rules, the Ministry of the Interior confirmed to franceinfo. The highway code does not set a maximum number of decibels to be respected. On the other hand, according to article R412-6, the driver must adopt “adopt prudent behavior” And “must constantly be in a state and position to carry out conveniently and without delay all the maneuvers incumbent upon him”In other words, he must be in control of his vehicle while remaining focused, constantly vigilant, and in particular having the ability to hear external traffic signals (police sirens, emergency services, horns of other motorists, etc.)
Drivers must also be respectful of others. Article R318-3 of the Highway Code states that “motor vehicles must not emit noise likely to cause inconvenience to road users or local residents”. This concerns the noise of the exhaust pipe, but a driver can be penalized – this is rare – for playing music that is too loud, with the windows open in the city center, for example. It is at the discretion of the police and gendarmes who can draw up a report.
On the other hand, it is clearly forbidden to use earphones or headphones to listen to music or the radio in your car, under penalty of a fine of 135 euros and a withdrawal of three points from your driving license. But nothing new, the measure entered the highway code on July 1, 2015. So nine years ago.
On July 1, 2024, the date mentioned by Internet users, a measure concerning motorists came into force but with no connection to music. It concerns new vehicles placed on the market and registered for the first time on European soil. They must now be equipped with an “intelligent speed adaptation system” (AIV), “intended to help the driver maintain the permitted speed on the road”, can be read on the website info.gouv.fr. This system “includes a speed limit information function”, but also “either a speed limit warning function (audible) or a speed regulation function” by provoking “automatically a gradual deceleration of the vehicle by reducing its power or by ‘hardening’ the travel of the accelerator pedal”.