France’s Junior Transport Minister, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, warns that there will be consequences for those caught travelling over 100km

France’s Junior Transport Minister, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, warns that there will be consequences for those caught travelling over 100km

ALMOST 1,000 French drivers have been fined in the first week of France’s lockdown easing for travelling further than the 100 kilometres allowed.
As France’s 66 million inhabitants prepare for the long weekend coming up due to the Ascension Day public holiday falling on Thursday, May 21.
The country’s Junior Transport Minister, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, has sent out a warning to anyone planning a short getaway, “There will be checks.”
He added that since the country’s strict lockdown measures were eased on Monday, May 11 to allow non-essential travel of up to 100km from people’s homes, more than 200,000 road checks had so far been carried out by police.
“This gave rise to 950 fines,” he said.
Under the new rules, journeys of more than 100km can only be taken for “imperative” reasons, such as family emergencies and vital work reasons.
The question is whether this travel limit will be in place when the summer holidays come along, to which France’s transport secretary had the following to say: “We will have an important meeting at the end of May to plan for the month of June, the resumption of new activities, then more generally the summer holidays, in the hope that things will continue to improve.”
Djebarri also stated that 100 per cent of TGV train services will run by the end of June “if travel can return to normal” depending on how the health crisis develops.