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Have just dug out my old warning triangle prior to going to France next week.

It says it conforms to E2 (145).  Is this the same as 27r?

Does the difference matter?  This one is 20yrs old but very sturdy and seems to look like all the others available to buy?

I woldn't worry too much. We had a blowout on a trailer tyre on the way home this year on the toll autoroute near Le Touquet. We were really lucky as we were in the process of getting the kids (in their flouro jackets) up the bank and putting out our triangle when a highways equivalent chappy turned up in his van. He pooh-poohed our triangle, said "They are rubbish" and put out a load of cones for us instead LOL! He also liaised directly with the breakdown people and got a recovery truck to us within 20 minutes, we were at a local garage within half an hour and on our way within the hour, at the grand cost of £40.

I didn't realise though that you can't just phone your breakdown people if you have a problem on the autoroutes, that normally you have to go through the gendarmarie as the breakdown people can't directly authorise recovery on the motorway. we were lucky as our chap did all that for us, otherwise we might have been there for ages.

Excellent service!  I didn't realise about having to phone the police but have been lucky enough not to breakdown so far abroad.

I did read either on here or motorhomefacts though that if you breakdown on the autoroute you should NOT put the warning trangle out. They are for use on non autoroutes only.

Quote: Originally posted by blongs on 11/7/2009

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I did read either on here or motorhomefacts though that if you breakdown on the autoroute you should NOT put the warning trangle out. They are for use on non autoroutes only.

 

That's strange.   The Autoroutes.fr website says that before setting out you should have with you in the car gloves, spare bulbs, wiper fluid, warning triangles, torch and reflective vests. 

Quote: Originally posted by paulworthington53 on 11/7/2009

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Have just dug out my old warning triangle prior to going to France next week.

It says it conforms to E2 (145).  Is this the same as 27r?

 

Does the difference matter?  This one is 20yrs old but very sturdy and seems to look like all the others available to buy?

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Rostrevor

Two warning triangles! That's a new one to me. The Foreign Office, AA and RAC all state that it is obligatory to carry a warning triangle and reflective jacket. No mention of two. Where did you hear that you need two?

I have seen kiosks at the ferry ports that will scare you in to buying spare lamps and fire extinguishers saying they are compulsory. These may well be worth having but buy them at a supermarket at a much cheaper price. 

Quote: Originally posted by exessexmum on 11/7/2009

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I woldn't worry too much. We had a blowout on a trailer tyre on the way home this year on the toll autoroute near Le Touquet. We were really lucky as we were in the process of getting the kids (in their flouro jackets) up the bank and putting out our triangle when a highways equivalent chappy turned up in his van. He pooh-poohed our triangle, said "They are rubbish" and put out a load of cones for us instead LOL! He also liaised directly with the breakdown people and got a recovery truck to us within 20 minutes, we were at a local garage within half an hour and on our way within the hour, at the grand cost of £40.

I didn't realise though that you can't just phone your breakdown people if you have a problem on the autoroutes, that normally you have to go through the gendarmarie as the breakdown people can't directly authorise recovery on the motorway. we were lucky as our chap did all that for us, otherwise we might have been there for ages.

 

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Fratts

You are only required to have one Hi Vis jacket and one triangle for France. Check the Foreign Office or AA, RAC if you want to check.

However it is worth having one jacket for each passenger as well in case you have to leave the vehicle. If you breakdown it is safer to get out of the vehicle and up the embankment or behind a crash barrier, than stay in the car on the hard shoulder.

Yup. One triangle is fine. You technically, as oliver said, only need one hi vis jacket, but it's recommended you have one for each passenger. After having to empty our car on the autoroute, I'm glad we had jackets for everyone. Ikea (and sometimes Aldi and Lidl) do kiddie sized ones at very cheap prices, I think we paid £2 each for ours, well worth the investment. I'd also suggest a placcie backed picnic blanket, as the grass on the embankments tends to be very long and very damp, and sitting on it for half an hour leads to very damp bottoms otherwise!

And please, please please get Euro breakdown cover before you go. I don't even want to think about how much it would have cost us had we not had cover.

We got kids jackets from Ikea - so they have them for cycling too!

Quote: Originally posted by Floydfan on 13/7/2009

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The law here states that if you're towing either a trailer or caravan, that there must be the facility to leave a triangle with the trailer in the case of a breakdown, and the trailer/caravan being disconnected from the towcar. Independently, the trailer won't have any hazard warning lights.

The need for the second triangle becomes clear when disconnected from the trailer, if further down the road, there's a problem. If you're NOT towing, then only ONE triangle is needed. This has also been backed up by our local chef de police.

The law states also that yes, only ONE (for the driver) flourescent vest is required, yet it's good practice to have one for each passenger. These vests are best kept visible (at least the driver's one) in case a gendarme decides to have a closer look at you. Non-compliance with these laws could land you a hefty on the spot fine.

By the way, whilst in the UK recently I broke down on a motorway and needed taking a mile and a half to a service station. Cost? £135.70p! Rip off Britain?

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presumably you didn't have breakdown cover? and presumably would be the same in France?  

Christine

C