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Tracked Vehicle in France


Surveyor

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This is a question at planning stage.

A friend may be thinking of buying a tracked Vehicle here being UK and take it to France.

Yes I know we need government approval

The hope is no low loader 

The question are 

1. Has anyone taken one on a ferry as a stand alone vehicle

2. What would be the rules driving in France, I assume toll roads are out 

Crew of 2

This may not go ahead but he's looking at one and thinking 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Surveyor
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Can't see why it should not be a stand alone vehiche but if it has steel tracks they are unlikely to let you damage their decks.   I was on one trip where thay would not aloow a Carrier to drive on.  If its being driven on they would no doubt expect it to be insured and possibly road registered.

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You don't state what he intends to do with it there. Is it returning to the UK after a short visit to France, or is he resident in France, so that the vehicle will remain there, or what? Both British and French authorities will certainly expect it to be insured for road use [assuming it is actually road legal in both Britain and France, and the driver has a current license for such a vehicle valid in both countries - if not he won't be able to insure it and will face other problems] but the insurance will very probably need to be arranged differently depending on the actual situation.

 

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Hi,

Based in Normandy, I know a thing or two about the French bureaucracy and its laws...

Unfortunately, You won't be able to go shopping with your tracked vehicle anywhere in France, for these vehicles are just not even considered as "road legal". They can be tolerated punctually for commemoration purposes, or in military use, but besides, Law seems strict about them, it's a private grounds vehicle only. To get them on a public road, you'll need to declare the trip to the local authorities and have padded tracks. And even so, if your vehicle damages the road surface or markings, they can charge you with the repairs (in all fairness, never heard of that case being applied, but it is stipulated somewhere)

You will not even be able to register it in there, the category doesn't simply exist, neither does the H licence... They obviously need to be insured anyway.

Also, owning a military tracked vehicle is fine and legal until it was designed to support a weapon system of any sort. Then it has to be declared as a "category 2" weapon. Nothing complicated, just ensure the vehicle is kept in a closed building and it's weapons have been declared deactivated by a French Expert..

So, bringing it in France is easy, but forget about the Sunday bakery run, unless you know very well the local Gendarmes and Mayor!

Don't get put down by these seemingly bad news, many people own a tank around here and show them quite often, and the Authorities usually have a rather relaxed eye .on those!

My penny worth though, many other people will sure know much more about the matter than me...

Regards,

Vince

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On 10/24/2022 at 7:53 PM, Surveyor said:

This is a question at planning stage.

A friend may be thinking of buying a tracked Vehicle here being UK and take it to France.

Yes I know we need government approval

The hope is no low loader 

The question are 

1. Has anyone taken one on a ferry as a stand alone vehicle

2. What would be the rules driving in France, I assume toll roads are out 

Crew of 2

This may not go ahead but he's looking at one and thinking 

 

 

 

 

 

Brittany Ferries will not allow any tracked vehicle on their decks - no matter if rubber tracks, they tell me any tracked vehicle has to be on a low-loader.

Likely you will also need to get an export licence from UK Govt and Import licence from French Govt... recommend you contact a specialist freight company for that to be sure to get the right advice. 

There may well be taxes to pay to import to France - again check with the freight company.

If importing to the UK you can pay HM customs to give you an agreed commodity code up front - this avoids the risk that on the day the agent decides to classify the vehicle differently to that expected. For UK import that could add 15% to your bill. I do not know what the deal is importing into France, however I think it essential you find out.

Tim

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