Is it reasonable / expected that French 'driving accessories' are provided with a rental car?

Question

I'm hiring a car in France soon, for approximately a week.

It's my understanding that in France yellow hi-viz jackets are required for each occupant, in addition to a warning triangle (is there anything else 'unusual'?).

Should I expect these are provided with my rental car, by the rental car agency? Is it required that they provide them by law even? I would rather not turn up, find they aren't there, then have to go on a hunt for some, but I'd also not have to waste money on items I probably won't even use and carry them with me!

In case it matters, I'm renting with Enterprise, and I cannot find anything about this in their Ts&Cs. A Google search doesn't turn up much except discussions about purchasing these for a private car. Ideally I'm looking for an authoritative answer from the French government or at least based on experience.

Answer 1

https://www.stage-recuperation-points.com/actualites/location-voiture-bons-reflexes-avoir-170720/amp (in French) says:

Assurez-vous également que tous les équipements obligatoires sont bien à bord du véhicule (triangle, gilet jaune, roue de secours et le matériel permettant de l’installer ).

Which translates to:

Make sure to also check that all of the necessary equipment is present inside the vehicle (triangle, yellow vest, spare wheel and the tools necessary to install it).

which implies they should be provided.

Hertz say:

Chez Hertz Grand Ouest nous équipons chacun de nos véhicules de location d’un triangle et d’un gilet jaune

Which translates to:

At Hertz Grand West, we equip each of our rental vehicles with a triangle and yellow vest.

So they include the triangle and the hi-vis vest. They do however go on other required items such as a breath test which they don't indicate if they provide (but they are actually no longer mandatory)

Enterprise say (on their French site, but on a page for rentals in Netherlands?!):

Vous disposerez également, dans votre voiture de location Enterprise, de tout les équipements obligatoires : triangle, gilet jaune…

Which translates to:

You will also have all required equipment in your Enterprise rental vehicle: triangle, yellow vest...

So I would expect the triangle and hi-vis vest to be provided. To be sure, you should probably call them.

Answer 2

It's my understanding that in France yellow hi-viz jackets are required for each occupant.

No, it's 1 hi-viz jacket per car, regardless of the number of occupants. Also, it doesn't have to be yellow unless one wants to go on strike: it can be orange, yellow, green, pink, red, yellow-green, yellow-orange, or orange-red.

Is there anything else 'unusual'?

No, but breathalyzers used to be compulsory till May 21, 2020, and as a result some outdated sources will mention breathalyzers.

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Source for 1 hi-viz jacket per car:

En France : 1 gilet obligatoire par véhicule. Attention, lors de vos déplacements transfrontaliers car en Italie, c'est 1 gilet obligatoire par occupant.

Source (governmental source) for the color and other requirements for the jacket to be authorized:

• le gilet doit être fluorescent, de couleur orange, jaune, verte, rose, rouge, jaune-vert, jaune-orange, ou orange-rouge ;
• le gilet doit également posséder une capacité de rétroréflexion ;
• il doit comporter un marquage « CE » ainsi qu'une référence à une des deux normes harmonisées applicables : EN 1150:1999 ou EN ISO 20471:2013 ;
• il doit porter une étiquette mentionnant les conditions d'entretien ;
• il doit être accompagné d'une notice d'information rédigée en français, indiquant, notamment, le mode d'emploi, les précautions d’entretien à prendre, les performances et limites d’utilisation, la date ou le délai de péremption, la signification de tout marquage concernant la sécurité, la référence au règlement (UE) n° 2016/425, le nom et le numéro d’identification de chaque « organisme notifié »(ON) intervenant dans l’évaluation de la conformité de l’EPI, la référence de norme harmonisée utilisée en conception/fabrication, l’adresse du site internet où la déclaration UE de conformité puisse être aisément consultée, à moins que cette déclaration n’accompagne l’EPI, auquel cas la notice peut s’affranchir de préciser les références au règlement (UE) EPI, aux ON chargés de l’évaluation de la conformité, ainsi qu’à la norme harmonisée utilisée .

Source (governmental source) on the breathalyzer:

Est-il obligatoire d'avoir un éthylotest dans sa voiture ? Non. Depuis le 22 mai 2020 il n'est pas obligatoire de posséder un éthylotest dans son véhicule.

Answer 3

I have always found a triangle, you shouldn't assume the hi-viz vest will be present in the car (whatever the law or terms and conditions say). I guess you could always go back to the desk and ask for a hi-viz vest but in my experience it's often missing. This has been my observation both for long-term rentals from big brands (e.g. Avis) and for short-term free-floating vehicles in Paris.

Answer 4

I haven't hired in France for many years, but in both Germany and Spain, all the mandatory equipment was provided by the hire company. Even those trips were a few years ago.

They may not provide as many hi-vis vests as there are seats, though, so if you've got a car full of people, it's as well to check. More may be available on request, or they're cheap in the first big supermarket.

Note that in France you also had to carry disposable breathalysers, but apparently that's been abandoned now (with an injury then covid I haven't been since 2018). That's something to take into account if you're looking at articles on driving over there