Have just arrived in France from California, jet lagged and tired. We hired a driver to get us from CDG to Reims, where we are to pick up our rental car day after tomorrow to begin a four week road trip through Alsace, Mosel River Valley, and Burgundy before dropping the car in Dijon and taking a train to Paris.

My husband got an International Driving Permit from AAA about two weeks ago ... and neglected to pack it. You can only imagine the words that have crossed between us in the last half hour when I asked him if he had it.

So ... what are the odds we will be asked to produce the IDP at Europcar when we go to pick it up? Without the car, all the prepaid gites and cottages in small villages will be impossible to access. I’m not sure what we would do.

Any suggestions or words of wisdom?

Europcar has no interest in your IDP. If you get stopped by the police & they are in a bad mood - it might be an issue.


Stu Dudley

The odds are about 1%. It's a shame that California does not yet use the international format, because then it would not even be "officially" necessary.

You're going to be just fine, almost certainly, unless you happen upon a particularly savvy and picky Europcar employee or you get in an accident. But to make you feel better, is there someone back home who can take a screen shot of the IDP and email it to you? If not, don't sweat it. Have a good trip!

Be sure to respect the new speed limits, though. There are cameras everywhere!

>> It's a shame that California does not yet use the international format,<<


We do!!! It just takes a lot of time to get the new licenses distributed to our 30 million drivers. Horror stories about waits up to 6 hrs at the DMV. My wife had to renew her license this past May and opted to not get the new license because of the reported waiting time at the DMV. (you need to show up at the DMV for the new format license, and just mail for a renewal).


Stu Dudley

Could also Express Mail it there in two days to your hotel.

It all depends. On my first day with a rental car I was stopped in the evening by a police road check. I showed my IDP and passport, and they also asked for my driver's license. I do not know if they would have asked for the IDP if I had not shown it first. One way, for others, not to forget the IDP is to store it with the passports as soon as you obtain it.

What difference does it make what the odds are, you'll find out when you get there. I would hope you aren't going to try to guess in advance and then not go if someone on here says the odds are good you'll be asked for it.

Better have a plan B, which is the problem when you prepay things. The Plan B would be to go to towns/cities by train. I rarely prepay accommodations so always have that choice.

In theory, you could call the AAA office where you got it and perhaps ask them to at least email you a copy, they keep a copy for themselves after all, they could scan and send it. They may not pass any police check but it sure would be better than nothing.

My imagination is down to two possibilities:

Don't worry about it honey. I should have reminded you, or:
My mother told me I’d regret it.

The Hertz rental office in Reims asked to see the IDP and government-issued driver's license, but I have no idea what they would have said if we hadn't had the IDP with us.

We were randomly stopped by police a few days later on a secondary road near Verdun. The officer had no interest in the IDP and only wanted to see my husband's California driver's license. So, I'd be more concerned if your husband forgot his CDL.

FWIW, when we plan to rent a car, we BOTH get IDPs in case one of them gets lost or I have to drive for some reason.

My husband does have the new CA license, so perhaps that’s a good thing.

From what I am understanding from various online travel sites (not forums) France does not require the IDP anymore. But of course it is up to the rental agency.

I am am considering calling the AAA where my husband got his IDP a few weeks ago to see if they can send it to us as an attachment. I know they do keep a copy - that’s why they require the two photos. We are not AAA members, but hopefully they won’t hold that against us.

We we are very aware of the new speed limits in France, as well as the cameras mounted on unmarked cars, so we are not going to be driving fast.

From what I am understanding from various online travel sites (not forums) France does not require the IDP anymore. But of course it is up to the rental agency.>

Not according to a long recent thread here where some locals said that was not true - but also like said above chances of an official really demanding it are rare - that is of course unless you have a state license that qualifies for the new acceptance of them in lieu of IDP (which is itself meaningless but what is required is an officially recognized translation of license into French and the IDP is the most recognized of these).

And be up-to-date on speed limits on roads that are not marked with them and in wet weather conditions:

We could use some clarity on new speed limits in France

The international format licences just have numbered boxes, not words or only as a secondary reference, so there is no translation of 1 = 1, 4 = 4 or whatever. The authorities know which box is which.

The IDP is probably the most over-hyped topic discussed on travel forums. I doubt anyone in France really cares if you have one or not. There has never been an account of anyone being arrested for not carrying an IDP.

None the less, here is the law stating that your non-EU license must have a translation.

If there is a problem, however unlikely, you can always have a translation done in Paris. It takes a day or two and typically costs 50€.

If you have a new license in the international format, these licenses are line item identical to the French license so I can´t imagine anyone having problems.

French law requires you to have an IDP. This is a very new law. The car rental offices (we usually rent Europcar) could not care less if you have one or not. We rent cars every year in France & have never been asked for one. You MUST have a "real" driver's license. We are always asked for that, and if there is going to be a second driver, they must have a "real" driver's license also. If both of you are going to drive the car - you must be "declared" as a secondary driver. You'll probably have liability issues if you are not declared as a driver & you have an accident. Also, if the rental is in your name, you must give them a credit card with your name for the "deposit". They always ask for a credit card also. Not sure if we have had to present a passport too.


PalenQ referenced a thread that was posted earlier this year about this IDP. This thread included a link to an "official" French government site where they clearly stated that a "current" IDP was required in France. I was a "doubter" at the time, but after reading the French law - I hurried out & obtained an IDP.


Stu Dudley

>>There has never been an account of anyone being arrested for not carrying an IDP.<<



I don't think anyone would be arrested in California either. There would be a huge fine, however.


Stu Dudley

Well, tried unsuccessfully to get through to the AAA where my husband got his IDP. Since we don’t know the number of the document or the exact date it was issued, and we also do not have an AAA member number, we are out of luck.

We are supposed to pick up the car day after tomorrow. I looked at the “terms and conditions” for renting a car in France on the Europcar website, and there is no requirement for anything more than a valid drivers license (more than one year as a driver) and a passport.

Hopefully the rental agency will will not ask for the IDP. If they do we will plead our case, and hope for the best. Not the most fun way to begin a trip - worrying about something this stupid.

There has never been an account of anyone being arrested for not carrying an IDP.>

Not arrested by fined according to the long recent thread.

Frankly, when I had the old format French licence (pink cardboard), I was always amused that car rental places accepted it everywhere (California, Louisiana, Georgia, Texas, New South Wales, Queensland, South Africa; etc.) even though they usually couldn't read it and I had to explain all of the information to them. I was also stopped by the police in California and Australia for speeding but both times they let me off because they couldn't read my licence. Frankly I suspect that in many cases, the French police do the same sort of thing.

Back in olden times, I worked for Avis in Paris, and we had a big book with all of the drivers licences of the world in it so that we could decode them. Japanese and Korean licences were the worst. I also remember puzzling over an Emirati licence. It is really quite hard to believe that it has taken so long for the international format to start taking over. After all, passports are in a format that everybody can read.

Well, I spent the last two nights half awake, as only a seasoned worrier can. Days in Reims were fine, walked and walked and saw the sights without even thinking about the absent IDP. But once the lights were out and my head was on the pillow, my mind conjured up all the problems that would incur if we couldn’t get the car as planned. Even though I tried to assure myself that all it is is a stupid translation, and of course there had to be a way to replace it ... ugh, I was in perseveration mode, and coupled with a slight case of jet lag, sleep was evading me.

We were up early this morning, walked to the Europcar agency, and as soon as we stepped in the door, I knew it would be okay. It was a bit chaotic and there were plenty of scruffy foreigners renting their cars, and suddenly my zen took over and I just knew it was going to be easy.

No one asked for anything other than the usual ... drivers license, passport, and of course credit card. We bought as much insurance as they offered, and off we went.

We we will be the ones driving well below the speed limit wherever we are for the next three weeks.

I think I am going to sleep well tonight.