Driving in France

[securespark]

When I first went to France in 1981, we hired push bikes and cycled down the Champs Elysee on the way to Versailles (things you do when you're young!!)

Back then they had that rule where if you are on the roundabout, you have to give way to traffic coming on to it! Boy, that was fun..

Also, I have never seen anyone do this (in 10,000miles of driving in France) but there is a rule I think where if you are in rural areas, traffic emerging from a minor road onto a major one don't have to give way. Just keep an eye out " en cas".

And always (as in this country) look out for the idiots (local and tourist) that leap out from nowhere trying to bend your coachwork!

Esp. look out for inexperienced tourists - they're not difficult to spot. Look for either a lhd hire car or a brit plate hurtling towards you on the same side of the road - they think they're at home.....

 

[AdamW]

Luckily they now have signs onto the roundabouts saying "Cedez la passage", meaning "Give Way". Traffic already on the roundabout now has right of way, however you still have to go the wrong way round it.

Watch out for bikes if you are stuck in traffic. French bikers can be VERY irate if you don't give them lots of room when they are filtering through traffic. I know a bloke who got a big dent in a hirecar on the Peripherie from a motorbike courier, for not moving over.

Italy is even crazier in some ways: They used to have no speed limits on the autostrada. They decided it would be safer to have a limit so what did they make it? 150km/h = 95 mph. Seriously, I was once in a taxi on the way to Fiumicino airport and the guy OVERTOOK a police minibus on a blue light run!

Many years ago the law in Italy was to drive on the left in the countryside, and on the right in the town. And it was left to the driver's judgement to decide which he was driving through!

Attitudes on cars are one of the ways which the UK and the USA are very similar. We like to keep our cars shiny and take things very seriously when they get damaged and when people cut us up. On the continent my experience is people will shout and wave from behind the wheel, but I have never seen someone get out of their car and have a shout. I have even seen fender benders where no-one bothers getting out of the car. If you are trying to cut in, people will let you in and don't seem to mind that you are pushing in. When you are in France, try to find a car over a month old that isn't covered in an inch of dirt. They treat their car as a tool that gets them from A to B, no more.

 

[keyplayer]

And watch those funny little 3 wheel things. They don't need a license for them, and are invariably driven by people who have lost their license for consuming trop de vin rouge and driving. Beware!!

 

[securespark]

Adam.

As well as Cedez la passage", there could be ‘Vous n’avez pas la priorité’

which is self-explanatory (You don't have priority).

 

[securespark]

however you still have to go the wrong way round it.

It's the correct way in France!!

 

[securespark]

Sorry to keep posting.....

In Paris particularly, and other cities/towns, do not be upset if your bumpers get marked. They all "touch park" and think nothing of a few knocks a scrapes. After all, someone will do it to them, too.

 

[keyplayer]

Well quite, so park with your H/brake off!

 

[AdamW]

In Paris particularly, and other cities/towns, do not be upset if your bumpers get marked. They all "touch park" and think nothing of a few knocks a scrapes. After all, someone will do it to them, too.

One idea: get a towbar fitted. That way if someone is touch-parking then it is less likely to cause you any damage (although they can still get you either side of it!) Parking across two spaces won't help you, they will just squeeze in!

I have never volunteered my car for cross-channel jaunts for these very reasons, although a previous boss of mine was mad enough to take a brand new Audi TT through the centre of Paris on business, despite the option of a hirecar.

 

[securespark]

Don't tell me you're precious about a piece of metal???

Mine's a tool and although by no means abused, it has a few marks where careless people bang into the door when opening theirs.

Cars should be enjoyed, and to my mind they can't be if you worry about them all the time.

 

[AdamW]

Well, yes I am precious about a piece of metal! It is a piece of metal that cost £13,000. It is a piece of metal that when it comes to trade it in will be worth considerably more if it is in a shiny state, fully functional with no blemishes, than if it were dirty, dented, scratched and knackered.

Like wearing an expensive suit or clean clothes, driving somewhere in my car knowing it looks pristine gives me a lift. I don't wash my car as much as I should (in winter it can be months between washes!) but at least it is my choice how nice it looks.

No-one would think it acceptable if someone broke your bathroom window and ran off, but that would cost just as much as my car devalued the moment that idiot scraped their trolley across my back bumper. I don't worry about it so much now, but a little piece of the joy of owning a car was stolen from me that day.

 

[securespark]

Hi Adam

Didn't mean to upset you! I suppose I have resigned myself to the fact that my car will get scratched, dented etc by other people who to be very polite are careless and I no longer worry about it - come resale, these things can be attended to if affecting the value. Mind you, in my case I intend to extract as many 000's as poss before getting rid.

Having said the above, I was still mighty p*ssed off when on Day 1 of ownership, after the grand mileage of 000032, the n/s/f door of what I had paid 15K for less than 24h earlier was deeply scratched by some t*at whose knuckles scraped the ground.

But what can you do?

 

[jofly24]

Why not practice driving on the right in England before you leave. Get lots of practice in and then you will be ready to go. Good preparation will result in an accident free holiday.

 

[ninebob]

Amusing, but please note 17...

 

[pipme]

 

[AdamW]

Why not practice driving on the right in England before you leave. Get lots of practice in and then you will be ready to go. Good preparation will result in an accident free holiday.

You must have been talking to the driver of the taxi I took last week: he took blind corners on the wrong side of the road. I clenched so hard that by the time I got home my boxers had become a thong.

All the while he was trying to explain a joke that he translated from his mother tongue of Gujarati.

A man meets an old friend at a crossroads. "How are you my friend?" says the man. "Very well, aunty" says the friend.

That's the joke. The guy was in hysterics... If anyone understands this joke, please let me in on it! I'm guessing it involves a pun. Either that, or the driver was just mental.