Paris Considers Ban on Old Motorcycles and Cars

Motorcycles produced before 2002 may be banned from Paris‘ city center, if the mayor of the French city has his way.

Mayor Bertrand Delanoe has proposed a law that would ban cars built before 1997 and motorcycles built before 2002 from city streets by 2014. The goal is to clean up the air in the city by prohibiting older vehicles, a large source of air pollution.

Older vehicles would be barred from streets inside the Autoroute A86, a beltway that circles the Paris city center with a radius that varies from 5.0 to 9.9 miles.

“This is for our citizens. It’s a public health battle and we’ve been fighting since 2001 to try and make the air here more breathable,” Delanoe told councilors.

Critics say the proposed law would unfairly affect the poor who use older vehicles because they cannot afford newer ones.

[Source: Daily Telegraph]