# Sticky  Legal Requirements Abroad



## cronkle (May 1, 2005)

'Legal Requirements Abroad. (*Author = Cronkle*)

Below is a list of items that are required to be carried in one or other of the countries of Western Europe. *(Updated 13 January 2016)*

If you were to carry all of the items on the list in your motorhome you would meet the legal requirements of all of the countries in Western Europe and probably Central Europe as well.

Some are obvious such as passports and driving licences others are not quite so.

In France, amongst other countries, you are required to carry proof that you are legally entitled to use the vehicle you are driving and evidence that the vehicle complies with your home country's laws.

You are also required to carry evidence of adequate vehicle insurance.

Your lights must not dazzle other road users; the solution being the use of 'beam benders' or masks on the headlights.

Many countries, including France, now require that a person who has to exit their vehicle on a motorway must wear a fluorescent jacket/vest. Many people have now taken to carrying as many of these vests as there are people in their van so that they do not fall foul of these laws.

Carrying a warning triangle that must be displayed 30 Metres to the rear of your vehicle should you break down is now a standard requirement in most European countries and it is recommended that two should be carried in Spain with one being placed 50 Metres to the rear of the vehicle and 50 Metres to the front on ordinary roads.

Some countries also require that drivers who need corrective glasses should carry a spare set.

If you do not have number plates with the correct GB badge ('GB' below the circle of small gold stars) you will need a GB sticker. The 'GB' number plate is accepted in EU countries and many other European states such as Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, Serbia and Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Check if this applies to any other non EU state that you are visiting.

A number of countries require vehicles to carry first aid kits. There is often debate as to whether those rules can or do apply to vehicles registered in countries other than the country drawing up the law. However, to cover all possible scenarios a first aid kit is included on the list below.

If you have a load, such as bikes on a rack, that protrudes beyond the rear of the vehicle a square, diagonally striped board must be used to mark it in Italy and Spain.

The list includes:

Passports

Driving licence

Vehicle registration documents

Vehicle insurance documents

MOT certificate (if the vehicle requires one)

Headlamp converters/beam benders

Fluorescent jackets. (with a CE 471 mark)

Spare bulb set

Two warning triangles (with a CE mark)

GB sticker (needed if your number plate does not have the correct badge ie 'GB' surrounded by small gold stars. See notes above)

First aid kit- to DIN 13 164 
Diagonally striped square rear marker board.

Spare prescription glasses for the driver(s)'


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