From May 1, 2026, use your phone while driving could lead to a immediate suspension of license in part of France. Until now, this offense cost mainly €135 and 3 points, while nearly 85% of motorists admit to handling their smartphone while driving. The authorities point out that calling increases the risk of an accident by 3 and that reading a message while driving increases it by 23.
Telephone while driving: what changes on May 1, 2026
Four departments are now moving into high gear. Pas-de-Calais, Lot-et-Garonne, Landes and Charente-Maritime will apply a very clear rule from May 1: phone in hand while driving, license withdrawn immediately. On X, the National Police also warns: “From May 1, the suspension of your license will be immediate if you use the telephone while driving in certain departments: Pas-de-Calais, Lot-et-Garonne, Landes and Charente-Maritime“.
In the rest of the country, the Highway Code provides for a fixed fine of €135 and a deduction of 3 points for a phone held in the hand. Since 2021, a suspension of up to six months is only decided if the use of the telephone is added to another offense, for example speeding or running a red light. In the four pioneering departments, this condition disappears: the telephone alone is enough.
Landes, Pas-de-Calais, Lot-et-Garonne, Charente-Maritime: four test territories
Lot-et-Garonne was the first to decide that a license would be systematically suspended for a period of up to two months, even without another infraction, followed closely by Pas-de-Calais. Landes took the plunge in 2025: in three months, the prefecture applied more than 200 phone suspensions while driving. These local decisions serve as a laboratory for a policy of almost zero tolerance towards digital distraction while driving.
Fourth on the list, Charente-Maritime will apply this system on May 1 after a month of awareness raising. The prefecture assumes “zero tolerance” to provoke “immediate awareness”. In 2025, the telephone was involved in 15% of fatal accidents, or 7 deaths out of 45. In this department, the prefecture indicates that “simply handling your phone while driving will result in an immediate suspension of your driver’s license“, with the addition of a “citizen contribution” to a victim support association in the amount of €200, higher than the fixed fine.
A local measure, but a warning for all drivers
Contrary to what certain videos suggest, this immediate suspension is not automatic throughout France, and there is nothing definitive about it. Outside of these four departments, telephone use remains punishable by €135 and 3 points, but the license can already be suspended for up to six months if another offense is noted at the same time. In 2024, the telephone was involved in a quarter of injury accidents and 12% of fatal accidents, or 419 deaths.