Paris: The ban on paying French motorway tolls with your smartphone is soon over. Today, the young President of France, Emmanuel Macron, responded to two influencers on the social media platform TikTok who were complaining about this prohibition: A classic example of technology moving at such a lightning speed that it is even rendering laws archaic.
One of the influencers with the nickname “s4iint”cribbed last week that he was slammed with a 90-euro fine and lost three points on his driving license because he paid using Apple Pay on his phone at a toll booth since the detecting cameras deemed that he was using a phone while at the wheel.
Emmanuel Macron a officiellement réagi au TikTok d'une personne qui a eu une amende pour avoir utilisé Apple Pay au péage
— P4mui (@P4mui) January 23, 2025
"On va collectivement régler ça, merci pour l'alerte." pic.twitter.com/nlMwV5JLy9
The TikToker, however, does mention at the end of the video that he realized that the police were simply applying the law. He exclaimed, “I swear it's true. You are not allowed to use Apple Pay with your phone because it is 'use of the phone while driving.‘" His video obtained nearly five million views.
Masdak, another influencer with three million followers on TikTok whose account is famous for wisecracks to outwit different kinds of scams, took up this story in a video. He explains that "at the toll, you are on a motorway lane, your vehicle is still considered as being in movement, as being present in traffic. Using a phone is a violation and you have to cough up the heavy fine of 135 euros and a withdrawal of three points from your license".
DIRECT - #IledeFrance : Emmanuel Macron affirme qu’on pourra bientôt payer le péage avec son téléphone.
— FLASH INFO Ile-de-France (@info_Paris_IDF) January 22, 2025
Ça avait fait polémique ces derniers jours. Le Président affirme avoir "passer" le dossier au ministre de l’Intérieur et réglera ça "collectivement". (Tiktok) #Amende pic.twitter.com/GOgshRxI53
Emmanuel Macron, who is very tech-savvy and very active on social media, happened to come across the stories of these two influencers and responded immediately. He admitted, “You are right. In 2025, you must be able to pay at the toll with your phone. So I have passed this on to the Home Minister and we will collectively settle this. Thank you for alerting us.”
Article R1412-6-1 of the French Highway Code clearly explains that “the use of the telephone held by the driver of a vehicle in circulation is prohibited.” If the toll crossing barrier forces a driver to stop his vehicle, this stop is only temporary. Once he has paid for his passage, he must be able to exit the toll booth quickly to let other drivers do so without causing a traffic jam. This is something that is not possible if the driver is using a phone according to the law.
The French “Code de la Route” or Traffic Regulations are one of the strictest in the world.