ROAD CODE

Chapter 5: Immobilization and impoundment

Article L325-1

   Vehicles whose circulation or parking in violation of the provisions of this code or of police regulations or of the regulations relating to compulsory insurance of motor vehicles compromise the safety or the right to compensation of road users, the peace of mind. or public hygiene, the aesthetics of classified sites and landscapes, the conservation or normal use of roads open to public traffic and their outbuildings, in particular by public transport vehicles, can at the request and under the responsibility of the mayor or the territorially competent judicial police officer, even without the agreement of the owner of the vehicle, in the cases and conditions specified by the decree provided for in Articles L. 325-3 and L. 325-11, be immobilized,impounded, withdrawn from circulation and, where appropriate, alienated or delivered for destruction.
   Can also, at the request and under the responsibility of the mayor or the territorially competent judicial police officer, even without the agreement of the owner of the vehicle, be immobilized, impounded, withdrawn from circulation and, if necessary, alienated or delivered for destruction, vehicles which, being on roads open to public traffic or on their outbuildings, are deprived of elements essential to their normal use and which cannot be immediately repaired following damage or theft.

   NOTE – Law 2003-329 article 131: Articles … 77, … 86 to 89, 91 … are applicable to Mayotte.

Article L325-2

   For the application of Article L. 325-1 and on prescription of the territorially competent judicial police officer, uniformed police officers and members of the gendarmerie authorized to record police violations against the police. of road traffic can, if necessary, open or have the doors of the vehicle opened, maneuver or have any equipment maneuvered. They can drive the vehicle or have it driven, in their presence, to the impoundment site, using, where appropriate, the autonomous means of propulsion with which the vehicle is fitted.
   The impoundment can also be prescribed by the assistant judicial police officer, head of the municipal police or who occupies these functions, territorially competent. For the application of this provision and on prescription of the assistant judicial police officer, chief of the municipal police or who occupies these functions, the municipal police officers empowered to note by report the contraventions to the traffic police road vehicle can, if necessary, open or have the doors of the vehicle opened, maneuver or have any equipment maneuvered. They can drive the vehicle or have it driven, in their presence, to the impoundment site, using, where appropriate, the autonomous means of propulsion with which the vehicle is fitted.
   In the cases provided for in the preceding paragraphs, the insurer of the owner of the vehicle is required to guarantee, within the limits of the contract, the repair of the damage caused to the third party, except recourse, if necessary, against the public authority which, by its fact, caused the damage giving rise to the liability of the insurer and without any increase in premium for the owner. It is ruled on this appeal as well as on any action for liability in the event of non-insurance of the vehicle under the conditions provided for by article 1 of law n ° 57-1424 of December 31, 1957 granting the courts jurisdiction to rule on the actions for liability for damage caused by any vehicle and directed against a legal person governed by public law.

   NOTE – Law 2003-329 article 131: Articles … 77, … 86 to 89, 91 … are applicable to Mayotte

Article L325-3

   A Council of State decree determines the conditions of application of Articles L. 325-1 and L. 325-2.
   It determines in particular the clauses which must appear in the standard contract likely to be concluded between the public authorities concerned and the companies able to carry out the demolition of motor vehicles.

Article L325-4

   The absence on board the vehicle of the document provided for by article 26 of law n ° 95-96 of February 1, 1995 concerning unfair terms and the presentation of contracts and governing various economic and commercial activities or, for transport which are not subject to the provisions of this article, the consignment note provided for by the Geneva Convention of 19 May 1956 relating to the contract for the international carriage of goods by road, duly completed and signed by the remitter or his representative, entails the ” immediate immobilization of the vehicle or the road combination and its load, provided for in article L. 325-1 in the following cases:
   1 ° Either exceeding the maximum speed authorized on roads open to public traffic by more than 20 km / h or the maximum speed authorized by construction for his vehicle;
   2 ° Or exceeding the maximum daily driving time by more than 20%;
   3 ° Or the reduction to less than six hours of the daily rest period.

Article L325-5

   In the event of an offense or contravention concerning working conditions in road transport, observed on the national territory, the exceeding of driving times and the reduction of rest time are calculated, for the period of time considered, including the periods of driving and rest time abroad.

Article L325-6

   Vehicles whose condition does not allow circulation in normal safety conditions can only be removed from the impound by repairers instructed by the owners to carry out work recognized as essential.
   They can then be returned to their owners only after verification of the proper execution of the work.
   In the event of disagreement on the condition of the vehicle, an expert is appointed under conditions set by decree of the Council of State. If he finds that the vehicle is not in a condition to travel under normal safety conditions, he determines the work to be done before handing it over to the owner.

Article L325-7

   Vehicles left in the impound at the end of a period of forty-five days from the formal notice given to the owner to collect his vehicle are deemed to be abandoned.
   The notification is validly made to the address indicated in the national registration file. If the vehicle is the subject of a regularly registered pledge, this notification is also made to the pledgee.
   If the owner cannot be identified, the aforementioned period runs from the day on which this impossibility was noted.
   The period provided for in the first paragraph is reduced to ten days with regard to vehicles that an expert appointed by the administration will have estimated of a market value lower than an amount fixed by interministerial decree and declared unfit for circulation in normal security conditions.
   The vehicles referred to in the previous paragraph are, at the end of the ten-day period, delivered for destruction.

Article L325-8

   Vehicles abandoned under the conditions provided for in the first paragraph of article L. 325-7 are returned to the estate service with a view to their alienation in the forms provided for sales of State furniture. Vehicles which have not found a taker, at the expiration of a period fixed by the representative of the State in the department, are delivered for destruction on the initiative of the administrative authority vested with police powers in traffic matter.

Article L325-9

   The costs of removal, custody in the pound, appraisal and sale or destruction of the vehicle are the responsibility of the owner.
   The proceeds of the sale, after deduction of the costs listed in the previous paragraph, are held at the disposal of the owner or his successors in title or, where applicable, of the pledgee who can prove his rights, for a period of two years. . At the end of this period, this product is acquired by the State.
   When the proceeds of the sale are less than the amount of the costs referred to above, the owner or his beneficiaries remain liable for the difference. This is recovered under the conditions set by decree.

Article L325-10

   The public authority concerned is not liable for damage to the vehicles referred to in paragraph 4 of article L. 325-7, placed in an unfenced and unguarded pound.

Article L325-11

   A Council of State decree determines the conditions for the application of Articles L. 325-6 to L. 325-10.

Article L325-12

   Can, at the request of the owner and under his responsibility, be impounded, alienated and possibly delivered for destruction vehicles left, without rights, in public or private places where the highway code does not apply. .
   A Council of State decree sets the conditions for the application of this article.
   Can also, even without the agreement of the owner of the vehicle, at the request of the mayor or the territorially competent judicial police officer, acting on the initiative and under the responsibility of the master of public or private places where the this code, be impounded and, where applicable, alienated or delivered for destruction vehicles deprived of elements essential to their normal use and not susceptible to immediate repair, following damage or theft.

   NOTE – Law 2003-329 article 131: Articles … 77, … 86 to 89, 91 … are applicable to Mayotte.

Article L325-13

   The mayor, the president of a public intercommunal cooperation establishment or the president of the general council each have the right to set up one or more public car impound services under their respective authority.