Residents of the Dutch-Belgian border town of Putte who have applied for an environmental vignette for France discovered that the vignette is sent to a non-existent place called ‘Whore’.
The case was reported on the website Gocar.be started by David, resident of Putte. He warned his fellow villagers on Facebook about the comical mistake. Quite a few residents of Putte recognized his story and confirmed it with screenshots. The French website where the environmental vignette was requested apparently changes the name Putte to ‘Whore’.
The cause is probably due to the fact that the translation of the French word ‘Pute’, so with one ‘t’, literally means ‘whore’, the resident of the Dutch-Belgian village explained to the Belgian station Radio2. Google Translate also recognizes ‘Putte’ as the less euphemistic synonym for sex worker. According to David, the problem can be solved by putting a space between ‘Pu’ and ‘tte’.
You need it in these cities
The low emission zones (zones à faibles emissions or ZFE) have existed in France for some time, but were not permanent in most places. Except in Paris, where the environmental zone applies every working day from 08:00 to 20:00, the low-emission zones in cities only came into effect when the air quality was poor. That is now changing in nine major French cities: permanent low-emission zones are being introduced that also apply at weekends.
These are Grenoble, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Nice, Reims, Rouen, Strasbourg and Toulouse. In Lyon and Strasbourg, the permanent low-emission zone has actually been in force since last year, but there was a transition period then. From 2025, all cities with more than 150,000 inhabitants must introduce a permanent low-emission zone. The environmental sticker is also mandatory for foreign vehicles
Environmental zone in Paris
In Paris, the already existing environmental zone will continue to exist, so it will not become permanent. The rules may become stricter. In that case, at least Euro standard 5 (instead of Euro standard 4) applies to diesels and Euro standard 4 to petrol cars (there are no restrictions yet).
The tightening of the rules has led to discussions since last year, resulting in postponement. Even now, the call is heard to postpone the stricter rules again until after the Olympic Games in 2024. Many other cities and regions have low emission zones, but none permanent. There, the ZFE still only comes into force in the event of heavy air pollution.
Risk of fine
From now on, anyone who wants to enter the cities mentioned above will need an environmental vignette. The specific rules of the zones à faibles emissions vary from city to city. Especially motorists with a diesel should pay attention. Diesels with Euro standard 4 are still welcome almost everywhere. There are no restrictions yet for petrol cars, but the obligation to carry a Crit’air vignette also applies. Those who drive around without an environmental sticker risk a fine of 68 euros.
Beware of rogue websites
When you order a Crit’Air vignette, you should pay close attention to which website you do this on. There are many rogue websites that take payments, but never deliver. There are also sites that charge up to ten times more than the official rate. A Crit’Air vignette costs 4.61 euros on the official website www.certificat-air.gouv.fr. Buying on site or ordering by mail is not possible. The sticker is also not available from the ANWB. You stick it at the bottom of the inside of your windshield. You can find more information about the environmental zones here at the ANWB.
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