I have been looking at road signs for France so that I will be aware them. I see this "Priority to the Right" sign...my question is, will I see this sign very often? It seems, if I am reading the description correctly, that one gives way to cars coming from the right. I also read that even if there is no sign, you are expected to give way if it is a priority intersection/area.

Is it similar to our merge?
Any info will be appreciated.

It is the same as "yield." And it is priority to the left at every traffic roundabout except the ones in Paris (Place Charles de Gaulle and Place de la Nation).

Generally you give way to cars from the right in towns and villages, where the speed limit is lower, but it can happen on country roads too.
In the Netherlands the town name board is also the speed limit board (50kmph), though parts will be 30kmph, or even slower, but those are posted. I seem to remember it is the same in France.
A priority road has a white lozenge with a yellow lozenge inside.

Priority to the Right is an archaic and dangerous concept that the French have held on to. They should have kept their yellow headlights and dropped this monster which works well for local drivers, who know in advance all of the blind spots and from where car are likely to suddenly appear, but if it´s your first time driving through town - beware!

When you see a car approach from the right, the next thing you must note is whether or not he has a stop sign. Apparently the French have no problem identifying stop signs at a 90˚ angle when they appear no wider than a shepherd´s staff. But for the rest of us, a bit of practice is essential. Clairvoyants will have a real edge in determining exactly what the car on the right is going to do.

The sign that becomes your friend is the yellow diamond which is really a yellow square rotated until one of the corners points straight up (or straight down depending upon your point of view). This sign indicates a temporary cancellation of the <i>priorité à droite</i> rule and you can continue, knowing that the rules are now just as they are anywhere else in the world - cars on a straight ahead thoroughfare need not come to a sudden stop to allow someone from the right enter the roadway.

However, when you see one of these signs with a red line drawn diagonally across its face, <i>priorité à droite</i> is back in force. Proceed with great caution.

Actually, French drivers are not trying to read other people's stop signs sideways. All they have to do in most cases is look at the pavement to see if there is a solid white line 'stopping' the cars on the right.

There are several significant differences between the French and the California traffic rules.

Priority to right is one of them. Try this quiz. Even though this one is meant for Germany, the rule is similar.
http://www.gettingaroundgermany.info/quiz.shtml

Of course, you can't turn right on red light.

If the functional signal and signs are posted at the same time (quiz section 2 #27, #28) you follow the signal. If the signal is blinking yellow, you interpret that to mean the signal is kaput and you follow the signs. Blinking yellow does not always mean proceed with caution as in the US.

Many people will tell you the left lane on multi-lane highway is for passing. What should really be said is it is forbidden to pass on the right unless it is congested and there is no way not to pass on the right. This is clearly different from California where passing on the right is not restricted on multi-lane highways.

Speed cameras are ubiquitous. Following the prevailing speed, as in CA, will not always do. It is illegal to use a radar detector. It is also illegal to have it in your car even if not in use. Tom Tom had to release a GPS patch for use in France to replace ability to pin point the exact speed camera locations by general warnings. The fine is very stiff.

You are supposed to have a breathalyzer kit in your car. However, failure to have it results in a trivial fine. The BAC in France is lower than the U.S. at 0.05%.

There is no fine for not having the <i>required</i> breathalyzers.

The left lane, on multi-lane highways, is indeed only for passing. True, one is forbidden from passing on the right but a driver should always stay in the far most right lane. Cruising in an open lane which is not the far most right lane, is also forbidden.

IME, priorite a droite has more or less died out - except when it hasn't! the main dangers are in country districts with tractors and old farm vehicles, and, dare I say, farmers.

Kerouac - you are right of course, in theory. However the foreign driver has a lot to think about, including, in our case, driving on the "wrong" side of the road in a RHD car. [though that does put us closer to those "helpful" marks" you mention].

frankly, i would say that priorite a droite has been the least of our worries. making sure we're driving on the right side of the road is much higher up the list!

I've only encountered priorite a droite in three instances -- once in a remote corner of Brittany (no collision -- horn honking and angry fist waving), Cote d'Ivoire (horns and swerving) and Saarland, where I nearly had a heart attack when my BiL jumped out, from the right, in front of some monstrous agricultural machine bristling with scythes and tread. He was in the right.

A bizarre rule in need of repeal.

I think the only "foreign drivers" who have to worry about this are from the UK, Japan, Australia, and NZ, where you drive on the left.

In most US states (all now?), one yields to the car on the right naturally since you can usually see him more easily than he can see you.

The two exceptions are merging on an expressway, where the driver on the right should come up to speed before merging but must yield to traffic already on the highway if he can't and roundabouts-rotaries-traffic circles where traffic entering the intersection yields to traffic already in the rotary.

This has changed in some states, e.g., Massachusetts, only with the last twenty years or so, and those who have not had to take a written exam in that time may not have internalized the rules. Fortunately, rotaries are much less common in the US than in the UK or Italy.

It is always better to yield the right of way than to die.

Akislander, half of the world drives on the left -- you left out South Africa, India, Thailand, the Commonwealth countries except for Canada...

This may help people shaking their heads in incredulity:

http://www.vendee-guide.co.uk/priority-a-droite.htm

As a Canadian who has driven in France for over 20 years, and passed the French driving test, I don't see this as a very big issue. Admittedly, in the country, you may get a narrow road joining you, where he has the right of way. But usually there is an indication of who has right of way - a bold arrow with a narrow line intersecting (bold arrow direction has right of way,) a broad white line on the road, indicating that there is a stop sign, or the famous lozenge, which says that, until you see another one, you have priority. Sounds more complicated than it is in actuality.


'You are supposed to have a breathalyzer kit in your car. However, failure to have it results in a trivial fine.' The BAC in France is lower than the U.S. at 0.05%.'

Although, you are indeed supposed to have a breathalyer kit, 'Le non respect de cette obligation n'est pas sanctionné.' - the lack of one is not an issue.

Regarding blood alcohol level,' Il est interdit de conduire avec un taux d'alcool pur dans le sang égal ou supérieur à 0,5 g par litre de sang, soit 0,25 mg d'alcool par litre d'air expiré, that is,.5 grams per litre in the blood, .25mg in exhaled breath - the kind of breathalyser you will be offered when stopped. I know, having been stopped at the entrance to the autoroute on Friday!

I just worry on back roads where the old rules still apply. Never make any assumptions about French driving out in the sticks, read also for New Zealand (and their now defunct right turn), Ireland, UK retirement towns (where the indicator stalks are removed)etc etc name any country you like.

What if it's a bike coming from the right? Frankly I'm one more terrifying answer away from cancelling my bike trip to France.

[[ In the Netherlands the town name board is also the speed limit board (50kmph) ]]

This is also true in Italy; when you see the sign (town name in black letters on a white ground) announcing the town limits, you're supposed to slow to 50 kmph. Just be sure there's no local driver behind you, because the rule is mostly honored in the breach, and you might get rear-ended.

The "precedenza a destra" rule also applies in Italy, although very few intersections are now governed by that rule. Almost always now, they either have a stop sign or there's a roundabout.

The "4-way-stops" in some states in the US just drive me crazy, and I think they probably cause more accidents than they prevent.

The link given by Fra_Diavolo is correct. It's actually very easy:

1) In towns and villages, always yield to traffic coming from the right unless they have a yield or stop sign. Easy to locate by the marking on the road: stop is a thick solid white line and yield is a thick dotted white line.

2) On main roads, outside urban areas it is usually not an issue. The yellow lozenge will tell you if you are on a priority road. You sometimes still find the old triangle sign showing your road thicker than the upcoming intersecting road: once again: it speaks for itself: you're on the big road so you have priority.

Any other circumstance (highway merging, roundabout, etc) is clearly indicated. There are ALWAYS signs for entering traffic that show they must yield (rotaries, autoroutes), if there are no yield signs then they have priority (old-style roundabouts, Parisian périphérique).

It's really easier than it seems: look at the white marking on the road. In the absence of any marking or vertical sign, yield to anyone coming from the right.

My town is the worst: it has zero yield or stop. It's 100% priority to the right (if you are driving on a main road you must slow down at every intersection, every 20 meters, to let drivers coming from tiny streets go first) so if you want to practice, come to Saint-Maur, Val de Marne!

Better not come to Germany, where "priority to the right" is very common, especially in cities, towns and villages. It applies to bicycles, too (although many car drivers seem to think that bikes never have any rights, so as a cyclist it is better not to insist without looking).

Thanks for all the replies! We will be driving in Alsace and Luberon areas. Hopefully we won't encounter any of these issues but will be aware. Many thanks!

One thing to watch out for is the signs pointing to the right or left. Often they are well before the spot where you actually need to turn.