scotsdave

Has anyone drove in france if so is there any thing that i should look out for i.e giving way to cars from the right, speed limits etc

ira

Hi S,

>any thing that i should look out for

Cops.

Cars on the right have the right of way EXCEPT in roundabouts where cars in the circle have the right of way.

It takes a couple of hours to get used to it, but driving in France, outside the large cities, is quite easy.

scotsdave

thanks for that ira.

Michael

Cars on the right have the right-of-way except where posted otherwise, and in my experience blithely and blindly assuming the right-of-way is a thing of the past.

Michel_Paris

Direction signs will often show the next town on that road, not necessarily the bigger town further along. So have a good map especially if leaving main autoroutes. Michelin maps are very good. And as stated above, kepp right except to pass. And park on the sidewalks

Travelnut

Lots of good articles if you Google for them:

General comments and a link on French Road Signs:
http://www.americansinfrance.net/Driving/

General info:
http://www.discoverfrance.net/Boutiq...ntal_faq.shtml

Driving, Parking, Fuel*
http://www.bugeurope.com/transport/drivefr.html
* very important to know the terms for diesel, unleaded, etc.

French Road Signs:
http://www.alltravelfrance.com/Franc...Road_Signs.htm

Article written by someone with experience!
http://www.bonjourparis.com/Articles...ing_in_France/

A Previous thread that was very informative:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34533995

Pvoyageuse

Beware of speed limits : there are radars everywhere !

Alcoholic beverages : the limit is 0.5g alcohol per liter of blood and the law is strictly enforced.

StCirq

And cops can randomly pull you over and breatholyze you.

hopingtotravel

bookmarking

Travelnut

I read that you can receive automatic ticket if you arrive at a toll road exit sooner than the speed limit would allow from the point you entered the toll road.

sheila

Can I make teh assumption from your name and turn of phrase that you're not Amurrican.

The "Priorite a Droite" thing is almost (but not quite- how dumb is THAT?) dead.

Speed limits vary but are well posted. The single thing that gets me every time is the daft way the French hang their directional signs-So you see a sign that seems to be pointing one way but is ACTUALLY pointing another. It's the figer posts taht are most at fault.

And the way the roads change numbers as you're driving along them. So it might be the D15 one minute but it's the N4 the next- with no discernable change visible.

Oh, and another thing about the signing. They always put the place at the far end of a road on the sign. So, you may be going from, say, Toulouse to its suburb Colommiers, but because the road eventually goes to Auch, the road sign will say "Auch" and miss out everything in between.

And another thing.......

Pvoyageuse

"I read that you can receive automatic ticket if you arrive at a toll road exit sooner than the speed limit would allow from the point you entered the toll road."

This is an urban legend. The toll people are not the police : they have no right to issue tickets, no time to check entry/exit hours and they are certainly not going to hold up a line of cars at the toll both while they call the police !

mpprh

"This is an urban legend. The toll people are not the police : they have no right to issue tickets, no time to check entry/exit hours and they are certainly not going to hold up a line of cars at the toll both while they call the police ! "

I once arrived at the toll booth, and a bell rang. I thought maybe I had been speeding !

A group of gendarmes appeared and escorted the guy in the row next to me away to the gendarmerie.

Don't know why.

Peter

PalenQ

<The "Priorite a Droite" thing is almost (but not quite- how dumb is THAT?) dead.>

not quite - a few weeks ago in a residential part of Orleans a car did dart out in front of our car, which was on a more main road, coming from an alley - because the intersection not being marked with a yield sign gave him, coming from the right priority

practically dead because most intersections have a yield sign for one or other but you always have to keep this rule in mind - especially in residential areas

ira

Hi S,

IIRC, it is forbidden to cross a solid white line, whether in the middle or on the side of the road.

If you are driving down a street that has a solid white line, you cannot make a left turn until you come to where it becomes a dotted line.

You musn't pull off a highway where the line on the side is solid.


(Or am I thinking of Germany?)

AnselmAdorne

"The "Priorite a Droite" thing is almost (but not quite- how dumb is THAT?) dead."

As you say, not quite dead. I had a very close call last October in a small village near Verdun. It was exactly as PalenQ describes: I was driving on a main road through town, but it was joined from the right by another departmental route. Just as I realized that there was no yield sign or white bar across the road from the right (nor was there on the road I was on), there was a car coming towards me at a great rate of knots ... We both braked, changed course, and looked at each other. My realization of my error was confirmed by the other driver's wagging finger, an easily understood gesture I had observed once before when driving the wrong way down a one-way street.

But other than that, it's a great place to drive. And navigating is easy once you figure out how to do it.

Anselm

TimS

If you enter a town on a major road and plan to continue on that road at the other end of town, be aware that all references to that road number may disappear until you're leaving town. If you're not aware of this, you may think you have missed a turn when you actually haven't.

cocofromdijon

About priority on roundabouts, I noticed that the ones with traffic lights still have priorité à droite. It means that when you are on the roundabout and a traffic light turns green, the cars in the circle have to give way.
We have quite a few of those in Dijon, but it is easy to see what other people are doing. Lots of priorités à droite too...(eh oui!)
Good luck!

sheila

If we drive doen into Trabes by the most direct route, we pass through a T-junction with priorite a droite. It's SUCH a nightmare we go the long way every time

That's whay I said it was almost dead but not quite.

speckles

Watch out for the narrow village roads. My mum and I went to Europe/UK for 6 weeks in 2006 and the only time we fought was while driving in France for 3 days. She kept telling me I was too close to the kerb and I kept telling her the roads are far narrower than at home (Australia).

I was also constantly being overtaken, including by large trucks... and I was doing the speed limit.

We got lost at one stage and a very nice local man escorted us in the right direction.