A motorist has been fined for erratic driving caused by her Islamic headscarf, just weeks after a similar incident sparked a major political row.
Police in Vaucluse in southern France stopped the woman after she was spotted driving her vehicle carelessly on the road.
It was then officers noticed the driver was wearing a niqab, a veil that leaves only the eyes exposed, and that her sight was impaired, according to commanding officer Charles Bourillon.
”�’[The headscarf] was bothering the driver in her manoeuvres ... It was obvious she could not see a thing,’ he said.
Police gave the driver a ticket for 22 euros (£18) for driving with a reduced field of vision.
Officers then suggested that the woman remove her niqab to improve her sight, which she did.
The Islamic veil has become a political hot potato in France.
President Nicolas Sarkozy's government is pushing ahead with a legal ban on wearing full-face veils such as the niqab or burqa in public, despite a warning from state judicial experts that such a law could be unconstitutional.
In April, a woman in the French city of Nantes was fined for wearing a veil while driving.
The incident spiralled after a minister threatened to punish her Muslim husband for offences including polygamy.
