Summary
France deployed hundreds of police in Paris on Monday to enforce the most drastic curbs on car use in 20 years as authorities sought to reduce health-endangering pollution days before town hall elections.
Paris is more prone to smog than other European capitals because of France's diesel subsidies and its high number of private car drivers.
Some 700 police manned key entry points to the city from before dawn to apply the scheme, in which drivers may only use their cars on alternate days depending on whether their licence plates finished with an odd or even number.
Drivers who defy the curbs are fined 22 euros ($31) on the spot.
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