LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM -- 10/30/09 --
Estimates of the number of skiers who will drive across the English Channel each year to reach the pristine white slopes of the French Alps are in the millions, according to a variety of sources. Many of these visitors will be arriving by car for a few hours or days of skiing or snowboarding.
For those visitors who are travelling by motor vehicle for the first time since October 1, 2008, a new French traffic law will be in place. This law will have these visitors reaching for a reflective jacket to tuck into their motor vehicles before taking off on the roadway toward their skiing or snowboarding adventure.
Keeping in line with other European countries, the CISR (Interministerial Committee on Road Safety) has put into place a mandatory regulation that all drivers have a reflective jacket inside their motor vehicles in case of a road emergency while travelling throughout France. Since this law has only recently been implemented, many drivers are still unaware of it when entering France from outside the country.
The primary reason behind this measure is to provide safer conditions for those road users who find themselves stranded as well as for those motorists who pass by them on the roadways. The purpose of this regulation is to provide additional safety features for drivers who end up in an emergency situation on the roadway, whether or not it is their fault or the fault of someone else.
Although flying is more convenient as a method of transportation to the French Alps for many skiers and snowboarders, travelling by motor vehicle is often less expensive and the option that is chosen. Therefore, this traffic regulation is going to involve many Britons as well as others who find themselves travelling outside their native land for a bit of recreational skiing.
The reflective jackets must meet certain guidelines as proposed by the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Road Safety or CISR. The jackets must portray a marking of "C E" on them as an indication of the jacket's compliance with the regulation. Motorists can simply store the reflective jackets in the car in between trips.
About Alpine Elements
The Alpine Elements Group employs 125 people during the season, with head offices in London and Chamonix, France. Alpine Elements have been running catered chalets for the past 13 years.
In 2008/9 the Group provided ski deals over 12,000 people to the nine resorts it covers in the Alps.
Alpine Elements also operates the brand iGOSKi which offers ski weekends and is a brand of the long established niche ski holiday company
http://www.alpineelements.co.uk
Contacts:
Alpine Elements
James Hardiman
Director
08700 111360
www.alpineelements.co.uk
