14 DAY TRIAL // China might be dealing with a major air pollution crisis that is making headlines every other day, but, as it turns out, the city of Paris in France is not exactly bathing in sunshine either.
On the contrary, loads of smog are hovering over this urban area, and high officials have been left with no choice but resort to drastic measures in an attempt to try to improve on local air quality.
Media reports say that, starting this Monday at 5.30 a.m. local time, a car ban is in effect in Paris. Thus, people living in this city must now drive their cars on alternative days, depending on the number plate that their vehicle sports.
More precisely, only cars whose number plates end in an uneven digit are allowed to be driven in the city on Monday, Daily Mail reports.
Vehicles whose number plates end in an even digit will be given permission to take the roads the following day, information made available to the public says.
On Wednesday, these cars will once again get to spend some quality time inside a garage or parked in a driveway, and vehicles with an uneven digit at the end of their number plates will hit roads.
For the time being, it is unclear until when people in Paris will have to drive their four-wheelers on alternative days. One can only assume the ban will remain in place until local air quality takes a turn for the better.
Interestingly enough, it would appear that motorcycle owners will also have to abide by this new rule, and will be asked to only ride their two-wheelers on certain days, depending on its number plate.
Some 700 traffic police officers will be entrusted with ensuring that people in Paris respect the ban, and hefty fines await those found to be driving their cars on the wrong day of the week.
By the looks of it, the only drivers who will not have to respect the ban are foreigners who are driving through the city.
High officials in Paris explain that they took the decision to impose a car ban after air pollution levels in the city spiked and remained at unsafe levels for five consecutive days.
Specifically, the ban was instituted after, last week, local air concentrations of PM10 reached 180 micrograms per cubic meter. To put things into perspective, it must be said that the safe limit is considered to be one of 80 micrograms per cubic meter.
Before rolling out this car ban, high officials in Paris attempted to fight the air pollution crisis by making public transportation free. The goal of this initiative was to encourage people to leave their cars at home and opt for buses or the like instead.