The highway code is the highway code

The road is not just for cars. A bike is a vehicle: it has obligations, it has rights, and other road users have duties towards it. Each rule below comes with the article it rests on and what breaking it costs — so you can check, and so you can stand your ground when someone tells you otherwise.

What the bike must carry

Six pieces of equipment, and you can be fined for each one that is missing.

• Two working brakes

  A front brake and a rear brake, both of them effective.

  Article R315-3 €11

• A bell that can be heard at 50 metres

  A classic bell or a jingle bell. A shout does not count, and neither does a horn.

  Article R313-33 €11

• A front light, a rear light

  White or yellow at the front, red at the rear, from nightfall and whenever visibility drops — fog, rain, tunnel.

  Articles R313-4 and R313-5 €11

• Reflectors

  Red at the rear, white at the front, orange on the sides and on the pedals. They are what make you exist in a headlight, whether you are stopped or moving.

  Articles R313-18 to R313-20 €11

• A high-visibility vest, outside built-up areas

  At night, or by day when visibility is poor, for the rider and for the passenger alike. In town it is not compulsory; outside built-up areas, it is.

  Article R431-1-1 €35

• A helmet for under-12s

  Compulsory for the child, whether riding or being carried. Over 12 it is strongly recommended, never compulsory. If the child has no helmet, it is the accompanying adult who is fined.

  Article R431-1-3 €135

What cyclists are forbidden to do

• Earphones, earbuds, headphones

  Any device worn on the ear and capable of producing sound is forbidden while riding — including bone-conduction models, which are still devices worn on the ear. A speaker fixed to the bike, on the other hand, is not covered.

  Article R412-6-1 €135

• A phone held in your hand

  Even when stopped at a traffic light, as long as you are on the carriageway.

  Article R412-6-1 €135

• The pavement (sidewalk), except for children under 8

  They may ride on it, at a moderate pace and without getting in the way of pedestrians. Everyone else gets off and pushes the bike: on foot, you are a pedestrian again.

  Article R412-34 €135

• Alcohol, exactly as when driving

  The limit is the same: 0.5 grams per litre of blood. Above 0.8, it is no longer a fixed-fine offence (“contravention”) but a criminal offence (“délit”). A bike needs no licence, but a judge may suspend the one you hold for driving a car.

  Articles L234-1 and R234-1 €135 and more

• Motorways and expressways (“voies express”)

  Closed to bikes, without exception. They are the red lines on the map, along with the other ways marked as closed to bikes.

  Article R421-2 See them on the map

What others owe you

Half of the French Highway Code (Code de la route) that concerns you applies to other people.

• One metre in town, one and a half metres outside

  That is the gap a vehicle must leave when overtaking you. It is not a courtesy, it is an obligation, and it allows the driver to cross a solid line in order to comply, provided they can see far enough ahead.

  Article R414-4 €135 for the driver

• The “sas vélo” (bike box), ahead of the stop line

  This painted space between the cars' stop line and the traffic light is reserved for you. A motor vehicle that stops in it is committing an offence.

  Article R415-15 €135 for the driver

• Parking on a cycle path

  Parking on a cycle lane or a cycle path is “stationnement très gênant” (severely obstructive parking): the same category as parking on a pedestrian crossing.

  Article R417-11 €135 for the driver

• Opening a car door without looking

  A door flung open is one of the most common accidents in town. The driver who opens it without making sure they are not in anyone's way is responsible.

  Article R417-7 €135 for the driver

Two signs people mix up all the time

What you have the right to do, and people dispute

• Riding against the flow in a “double-sens cyclable” (two-way cycling in a one-way street)

  In every “zone 30” (30 km/h zone) and every “zone de rencontre” (shared zone where pedestrians have priority), one-way streets are two-way for bikes, unless the local council has decided otherwise. It is not a tolerance, it is the default rule.

  Article R110-2 your right

• Going through a red light when the sign allows it

  The small triangular sign with a bike and an arrow allows you to go through on red in the direction shown, giving way to pedestrians and to vehicles that have a green light.

  Article R412-30 your right

• Riding two abreast

  It is allowed by day. At night, or when a vehicle is about to overtake you, you must go back to single file.

  Article R431-7 your right

And electrically assisted bikes

Where this information comes from

• The official text: the article numbers above can be looked up on legifrance.gouv.fr (in French), which publishes the up-to-date Code de la route. It is the authority, not this page.
• The government's summary: service-public.fr (in French), transport section, and la Sécurité routière (the French road safety agency, in French).
• Why there are no direct links to the articles: Légifrance's deep addresses change, and a link that leads to the wrong article is worse than no link at all. The number does not move — it is the reference to quote.

Page checked on 22 August 2026. The amounts shown are the fixed fines (“amendes forfaitaires”); they may be reduced if you pay quickly, increased if you are late. If you spot a mistake or a text that has changed since, let us know: a safety map that gets it wrong is worse than no map at all.