This is a panel that can be intriguing if you first meet it on your way: a white diamond on a blue background or a luminous screen on a black background. What is it about?
What vehicles are allowed?
Introduced in 2020, this new panel allows for the designation of a dedicated carpool lane, though the definition ultimately remains broader than this ridesharing practice, which has seen strong development of late and the launch of a government rebate. It is enough that there are at least two on board: your child, your husband, your wife or even a friend, therefore, they will not need to pretend to be a shared traveler in case of an inspection.
If we still find the rhombus, the panel can take different shapes and be completed with one or more signs, specifying for example which lane it is and if it can also be used (even with a single person on board) by electric cars (with the logo of the Crit’Air 0 sticker), taxis and public transport. And the end of the reserved lane is logically indicated by a crossed out rhombus.
Points to clarify
A point that should also be clarified in Road Safety: information on this panel did not seem to appear on its website. The official texts (the decree of August 24, 2020) seem to imply that the panel with a rhombus authorizes the circulation not only of cars with at least two people, but also of taxis, “vehicles with very low emissions” and transport public.
In Strasbourg, for example, a TF1 report issued at the beginning of June showed a fairly representative example of the current vagueness: in a major axis we could see a rhombus, but complemented by the time slots in which it is applied, in this case from Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Another sign specifies that electric vehicles (with only one person on board) are not authorized and, finally, that it is the left lane that is affected. A lot of information to integrate knowing that we are on a fast track.
In the case of the light panel as in the A48 or the urban boulevards M6 and M7 in Lyonit is the fact that it is on which indicates that the lane is reserved for the different users already mentioned.
Speed limited to 50km/h
The static or variable display panels can also be complemented with a display of the minimum number of people authorized on board, which can go from two to three, for example.
The idea remains that traffic regulators can adjust the restrictions according to traffic conditions, more or less degraded.
In this exclusive lane (if it is active, of course), the speed is also limited to 50 km/h, since the other lanes of the axis in question are supposed to be saturated.
Attention, “after a period of prevention, the fines drop from January 2021. 135 euros if you do not respect the rules”, note the officespecifying that a “targeted radar powered by artificial intelligence detects the number of people in a vehicle and sends a ticket if the rules are not respected.”
Source: BFM TV
