Two and three-wheeled

Inter-queue traffic is widespread throughout the national territory

Publié le 14 janvier 2025 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Inter-lane traffic consists of driving in 2 or 3 motorized wheels between the most left-hand lanes of a roadway, when the lanes of the other vehicles are stationary or traveling at very low speed. Between 2016 and early January 2025, the practice was experimentally authorized in a few territories. Since January 11, 2025, inter-line traffic can be practiced everywhere in France.

Following two successive inter-line traffic testing campaigns in a few departments (2016 - 2021 and 2021 - January 2025), CEREMA, the research center that was tasked with evaluating the practice, reported a stable accident and stressed that the experimental rules were well accepted, including by car drivers. Following the publication of the CEREMA report, the inter-lane movement of 2 and 3 motorized wheels was generalized throughout the national territory on 11 January 2025.

A decree of January 9, 2025, sets out the details of this practice:

  • it is authorized when the traffic has, due to its density, been established in uninterrupted lanes on all tracks with vehicles traveling at a maximum speed of 50 km/h;
  • it can only be operated by 2 or 3 motorized wheels which are not more than one meter wide;
  • it is only permitted on motorways and roads with two carriageways separated by a median and equipped with at least two lanes each, and on which the maximum authorized speed is between 70 km/h and 130 km/h (it is also permitted on such roads where the speed has been reduced by decision of the local traffic police authority, such as the Paris ring road where the maximum authorized speed has increased from 70 km/h to 50 km/h in October 2024);
  • it takes place between the two lines of vehicles located furthest to the left of the road;
  • it is prohibited when a track is under construction, or covered with snow or ice.

FYI  

It is forbidden to cross lanes with a wide-track tricycle, a side-car or a quad.

What are the rules of conduct to respect when you move between lines?

When you use inter-lane traffic:

  • you must not force the passage, or attempt to pass if the space between vehicles is not clearly sufficient;
  • you must first notify other road users of your intention;
  • you must not exceed another 2 or 3 motorized wheels traveling in inter-lines in front of you;
  • you must drive at a maximum speed of 50 km/h (if one of the lines of vehicles between which you are traveling is stationary, you must drive at a maximum speed of 30 km/h);
  • you have to take your place in the tracks when the traffic is thinning and the vehicles are traveling at more than 50 km/h on at least one of the 2 lanes between which you are driving.

Failure to comply with these rules exposes you to a 3-point indent on your driver's license and at flat-rate fine of €135.

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