I’ve been to France before, but Mr. brown has always driven. This year, it’s my turn. June is starting to loom - what should I keep in mind while I navigate the autoroutes?
You know that people entering from the right have the right of way, non?
Also, they have roadside cameras that will take your picture if you’re speeding.
What kind of advice are you looking for? The main roads are well marked and should present no significant challenges for someone from the US. Traffic is often controlled by roundabouts rather than signals so if you are comfortable with this concept you should be fine.
If you are going into the countryside or small villages the roads can be much narrower then in the US, so you may need to pull over occassionally to let oncoming traffic pass. You also may get stuck behind farm machinery or perhaps some crossing livestock. Occassionally (such as over old, narrow bridges) there will be priority given to the oncoming traffic since there is not enough room for cars to pass side by side. This is clearly signalled with a “yield to oncoming traffic” sign (64 in this link). Also, “no entry” is a red circle with a horizontal white bar (40 in the link). You will see this at the “wrong” end of a one-way street.
Most cars in France are manual transmission so if you are renting you will have a much bigger choice if you know how to drive a stickshift.
On preview say Trunk’s comment about priority from the right. This is not the case in roundabouts as priority comes from the left.
The yield from the right law only applies in towns and villages. Out on the open road you will usually see a yellow diamond road-sign indicating that the main road has priority.
When you enter a town or village you will see the place’s name on a sign-board. This indicates the start of the speed limit which is usually 50 kph (30mph) . On leaving the place you will see a similar sign with the name crossed through, indicating the end of the speed limit.
The usual speed-limit for the auto-route (freeway) is 130 kph, but this is reduced to 110 kph when it is raining.
I have heard that you are timed through the various sections of the toll roads. If you arrive too early at the next pay station you could be fined for speeding.
I meant to say that priority of traffic from the right is usually only applicable in built-up areas. The yellow diamond sign is shown on picture #66 on snorlax’s link
Never pass on the right on an Autoroute.
Drive to Holland.
Tris
Firstly, bring lots of money because it’s going to be expensive. I made a round trip Paris-Geneva in late March, and tolls alone were about $40 US each way. Gasoline, of course, is considerably more expensive than in the States as well.
Otherwise, have fun. While the traffic in and around Paris is always nightmarish, the autoroutes in most areas outside the Ile-de-France region are lightly trafficked, are superbly smooth, and you can really fly along. Just keep within 10Kph of the speed limit, signal all lane changes, and always keep to the right unless overtaking, and you’ll be fine.
Oh, one more thing: Swiss superhighways are not toll roads, but if you happen to enter Switzerland by autoroute, you will need to buy a vignette for 40 Swiss francs indicating that you’ve paid for road usage for one year, even if you’re only traveling a few kilometers.
Thanks for all the advice. I like that link to roadsigns, snorlax. It’s bringing back some memories of our previous trip, including a sign I recall, “Vous n’avez pas la prioritie” which one sees when approaching a roundabout.
We do not plan to drive in Paris, but we must circle around it in order to proceed from the Charles de Gaulle airport to go to Troyes, which is to the east and a little south of Paris. I expect to get lost at least once on the way!
I’ll remember that village speed limit. I didn’t know that rule.
The roundabouts (traffic circles) work differently to anywhere else on earth, meaning that traffic entering the roundabout has right of way (unless otherwise indicated by road markings). This leads to lots of snarl-ups, and lots of near-heart-attacks for those used to roundabouts. If you’re not, then it shouldn’t faze you.
I think this only applies to a very few roundabouts, such as the one round the Arc de Triomphe. In all other cases the traffic already on the roundabout has priority.
I though France had fully abandoned prioritie a droite, except as Rayne Man says? Or am I imagining this, or thinking of somewhere else?
You are correct .All the times I have driven in France I have found that the “traffic on the roundabout has priority” rule applies.