As a french driver, I find it very interesting to see what you guys say about driving in my country :) I just heard you saying "never seen any case where you should give way to the right". Beware, this is VERY FREQUENT in towns, and mandatory right given priority is hidden everywhere. It is also indicated by a triangle sign with a black cross in the center. I realised recently many french people don't even know what that sign means, but it is very important... Oh also, round abouts where you have to give way to entering cars are very rare excepted in Paris. If you go outside Paris, you will almost never see any one of those weird dangerous things.
I did know about the triangular sign with the Black cross before I went to France, however I don't think I saw one. On this occasion I drove from Switzerland through France, Paris and back to England and and only saw I think 2 or 3 of those roundabouts where you have to give way on the roundabout, all in Paris.
In 21 years living in France I still can't get a French person to explain this rule and its origin. For most people to understand a rule it should be the same in all circumstances. My experience is that the signage is the issue not the rule. I'm just so used now to people just pulling out in front of me and looking for a sign that just isn't there.
@@aacmove It's been formally established in april 1926, after an international convention about automobile traffic. In France, the first road code was created in 1925 with an absolute priority to the vehicles driving on the main roads (called Route Nationale here). However because at the time the drivers struggled to figure out if they were on secondary roads or not, this generated a lot of accidents. Therefore on avril 12th 1927, a priority to the right everywhere unless specified otherwise was implemented. Ever since, if our roads do not specify anything (markings, signs, red lights...), you have to give way to any vehicle coming from the right. In cities, there is no warning, you have to analyse the road as you are driving and slow down at every corner. On main roads though, we put this black cross sign to indicate that you will not have the priority, about 150m before the intersection. Yesterday I went driving with my motorbike on secondary roads in "Gorges de l'Hérault", south of France. And I counted 5 of those signs along my way.
@@SteriCraft and yet. In a street where I live. Three side roads, 50 meters apart 1 has a sign to give way, the others don't. A sign which, when you are on the main road you can't see? The first on the right people stop. 50 meters later they pull out without even checking. It is not obvious to me why there are two different rules on the same main road.
😂😂😂 Don't you just love it when people go to other countries more than once and are clueless in the lingo 🤔 🤔 🤔 A bit like everyone who comes to the uk😉
If you drive long distances in or through France, and even if only fairly often (eg once or twice a year), it’s really worthwhile getting an “EMovis” electronic toll tag. You attach it with a little adhesive clip provided to the upper inside of your windscreen. They allow you to use the automated toll gate lanes marked with an illuminated lower case “t” (for “télépéage” = automatic toll) or the pun “Liber-t” (pronounced “liberté”) which have tag readers which recognise your tag (you hear a “beep” - thus the franglais “bipandgo” name for the tag) record the toll charge against your account and lift the barrier. Some of them (marked with an illuminated “30”) allow you to approach at that speed without stopping, thus processing cars much more quickly. You’ll also find that it’s a minority of cars that have them and therefore those toll gates often have shorter queues. No struggling to get your car close enough to the toll machine for your passenger to lean across! No long queues at major toll plazas! No struggling to find your bank card with an impatient queue behind you! No fraught in-car arguments about whether you’re close enough, where’s the card! Your toll charges are accumulated and billed to your bank account next month. It works just fine with a UK bank account, the £/€ exchange rate used isn’t a rip off and all the communications for U.K. account holders are in English. There’s a set-up charge (I think €20) and a charge for additional tags or when your battery runs out and the tag has to be replaced - they last a long time if you’re an infrequent U.K. based user like me - but no other extra cost. Worth every penny.
Can confirm, payage tags save so much hassle. Slow down to less than 30kmh and drive right through. No need to mess with credit cards or cash, and also no need for a passenger if you are in a RHD car.
@@AyeshaAkram-wf2iu I think that would depend a lot on the trip. If you were driving the entire length of France, mainly on toll road and in a RHD car, then personally I’d say yes it’s is worth the €20 sign up fee just for the added convenience. But probably not if you are hiring a LHD car in France and touring for a couple of weeks, not all on tolls.
I drive tens of thousands of km in France every year and would not consider getting a tag. The reason? I never use the autoroutes, there are always better routes.
Parisiens leave their handbrakes off, this is so that anyone trying to squeeze in can push their car out of the way. You will often see what looks like a car being rammed, but its what they do. A big no no in France is holding someone else up, lane hogging, driving in an empty fast lane will just result in someone driving on your bumper waiting for you to get out of their way. Motorcycles are respected by everyone, a queue will part like the red sea to let them through. Hidden speed radars are common. They have the radar, then a couple of cops in the road around the corner who will stop you. Instant fine, cash, card or cheque. If you don't have any of them, you have a huge problem. Too far over the limit and they will take your licence away, instant ban, and you will have to find someone else to drive. You will not get your licence back in the UK for months. The small cars (Dagadags) that you see are the only vehicle that convicted drink drivers are allowed to use, they do about 30mph. Sunday afternoons is drink driving spot check time. French families meet up for Sunday lunch, drink wine, and get caught on the way home.
Actually for the "empty fast lane" thing, it's the law. You're only allowed to drive on the rightmost lane unless you're overtaking. Passing on the right is illegal (with the 3 exceptions of traffic jams, trams, and left-turn only lanes), and it should in theory be impossible anyway since the other car is supposed to be overtaking you, not the opposite.
Open cars are a very British thing. The MX5 was built as a replica of the British roadsters from the 60s and 70s. Farther south in Europe, especially during the summer you will find most convertible cars have their roofs up, the shade is what counts.
Excellent video Richard👍Another recommendation for the Brits, when approaching a roundabout, vehicles already inside the roundabout have priority, the holy priority to the right on the mainland does not work in this specific case. Once you enter a roundabout, remember to indicate when you want to exit. You never know if the police are in the vicinity of the roundabout and if you don't, you're sure to catch a hefty fine.
I've only ever driven, if outside of the Canadian province of Ontario, in neighbouring Quebec. That as although I was in the latter province for likely under 36 hours before driving back and have only driven in Ontario since then. For over 10 years I have held an equivalent of a Great Britain B-auto licence although needed to take 2 practical driving tests (as is still the case to get a NZ one) to become fully qualified. Richard does make a claim about right turns on red in right-hand traffic parts of the world (7:10 mark). There's no doubt that that's the case, unless otherwise noted, in: - Canada outside Montreal proper (with a February 2017 video from the then-Montreal-based Conduite Facile RUclips man [title: "Turning Right at a Red Light"]) - the contiguous US outside NYC (with a June 2022 video from Big Mac Sam about right turns on red having been permitted if a sign indicated that they'd been [title: "This Is the Only Time You Can Make a Right Turn On Red in NYC | #BigMacSam"])
About 3 years ago all the single lane roads with 90kph were all reduced to 80kph. However, just make life interesting departments were about 18 months ago given the option to go back to 90kph on roads they thought suitable. So you need to aware of the limit on single lane roads as it could be 80 or 90 and hopefully there will be a sign telling you. However, very often there won't be a sign, in which case always assume it's 80. There are moves to make them all back to 90, but has not been implemented as yet. With regard to the "priorite a droite", priority from the right. They are still very common in rural areas and may or may not have a warning that you are approaching one. If you approach a junction on your right and it does not have a white line or a stop sign, then traffic coming out of it have priority, and will not stop before pulling out in front of you. There are still roundabouts here that are not really roundabouts as you may think of them. If the do not have a sign telling you it's a roundabout or white lines on the road as you enter it, then the "priorite a droite" rules the apply and you may be happily going and suddenly a car will pull out onto the "roundabout" without slowing down or even looking, as they have right of way!
@@davidmatthews3093 I live in France and can assure that the speed limit signs are often missing. So figuring out what the limit is can be quite tricky. They're introducing 30kph limits all over the place in towns and villages, often with speed humps just to make things more interesting.
3:05 It can be 80 or 90 on the dry out of town, depending on the roads (by default it's 80. It's 90 when signroad indicates it). On the wet, it's 80 anyway (for both 80 & 90 when it's dry) Please don't drive at 70 when it's raining (except heavy rain). It's too slow ! 😆 Urban can be 30 or 50
Most supermarkets have automated 24/7 petrol stations, it's really not that difficult to find one on a Sunday even in rural areas. Automated 24/7 stations are becoming the norm in France. And petrol stations are of course opened on Sundays on the motorway. A non-issue to me.
What do you mean the wrong side of the road, isn't it literally the right one 😎 Also yeah, speed limits can be confusing, out of town it's 80, except if it's 70, except if it may be 90 (80 if new driver, or sometimes 90 still), or sometimes 110 (100 if new driver)... During winter time, in certain regions, you have to have either chains or winter-homologated tires
loved the video richard lots of tips. You want to try driving in Naples you need eyes everywhere lol. I was told even the locals don't drive in naples its that bad
Great vid, cheers mate. Worth mentioning / making a video about UK sticker and Eurolites. New laws mean all cars with the standard GB license plates need a UK sticker next to this as our country code changed. Also, for Eurolites the insturctions are absolutely useless, the only real way to test positioning and make sure it is correct is to point the car at a wall at night with down pointing headlights on. Then place stickers to get rid of the raised top left corner lights that UK cars show (this raised light is to highlight UK signs, but would dazzle french drivers.
As a belt and braces measure to ensure I never drove a UK car on the wrong side of the road in France - I always put a sticky note on the dashboard when I turned the engine off. In fact I would do this for a European car too - just in case. Usually not a problem - but when you start off and there is zero traffic that is when you may find yourself inadvertently on the wrong side of the road.
The good thing about France is that they don't pay annual road tax. This means if a Frenchman/woman wants to drive from Calais to Cannes on holiday and you haven't reserved anything which has a deadline like a hotel, you could in principle drive the Route Nationale for free instead of taking the Péage (Toll roads) which costs you well over 100 euros.
Traffic on the right had to give way to traffic entering a roundabout in the UK at one time and I remember seeing signs to warn drivers the rule had changed. I don't remember when this was but defiantly before I learnt to drive in 1967.
I doubt anyone will see my comment but here I go. 112 is indeed the number to contact emergency services although it is that number pretty much everywhere in the EU. In France we have numbers specifically for services, 17 is for police, 18 for firefighters and 15 for medical emergency however if you don't speak French at all you may prefer to use 112.
Road signs in France are normally only present inmediately at the turning or exit same in Belgium whereas in Spain,Germany,Netherlands u get more advance warning.
@@benwyatt7619 Japan is surrounded by countries drive on the left , if you start comprehend on world map. Japan is country where the driver position doesn't matter as they have divided road directions unlike the EU.
I would add that turning on a green does not automatically mean you have priority over pedestrians crossing the road you are turning into. Example : you're turning on a green light, a pedestrian hasn't yet set foot on the road you're turning into, but is waiting to do so. If there is no pedestrian light for them, you must stop and let them cross. If there is a pedestrian light for them, obviously stop if it's green. Only if it's red can you proceed. This can often happen on exiting roundabouts. All other pedestrian crossings without a pedestrian light are to be treated as you would a zebra crossing in the UK, e.g. stop - no barging through. Technically, a pedestrian crossing where there is no pedestrian crossing also has priority, but only if there isn't anywhere else to cross within 50 meters, or something like that. It's a difficult to rule to observe in practice and most people will not give way to jaywalkers.
That's what US Mailmen do all the time. I've also seen it on garbage trucks, when the driver doesn't have a partner. They have special purpose vehicles with a right hand drive, to be more efficient when having to stop at every house.
8:08 what you said about the smart car kinda reminds me of the pink panther movie we’re the inspector tried to park his smart car and hits two police cars while doing it but yeah parking in Paris is dangerous and if ever plan to go there one day I’ll know what to look out for
I lived in france for a period, and never in my life have i ever seen so many cars in ditches, off the road , once almost in a a tree and once, on its roof on a motorway slip road. Prioritie a droite is also insane - and signs for it are quite common in rural areas in my experience.. The sheer number of battered cars in Paris serves as a warning to avoid it if you value your vehicle.
@@RichardFanders Parisian and Marseillais drivers are crazy, to me that explains why road deaths are higher in France than other Northern European countries like the UK, Germany and the Netherlands which have safer roads. In Marseille, mopeds regularly swerve super fast straight through the middle of a crowd of people crossing the street who have the green man. Paris is nearly as bad with very aggressive and fast drivers who don't stop at zebra crossings
That’s funny. I’ve seen all those things in Britain. PaD us not insane, it’s different. It’s used in most European countries, it’s you that’s having the problem not the system itself.
@@davidmatthews3093 Yes, being able to pull straight out onto a busy road and demand that everyone stop for you makes perfect sense - especially when its not universally applied and confuses even the locals. Thanks for your clarification of this complicated matter.
Very good video, you have explained everything beautifully. Just one question? We are planning to do a road trip to Turkey soon. Driving through France and Italy then finally a ferry into Turkey. What are the requirements needed during this covid restrictions. We have 3 children all over 12 years old and oldest is 16 years old. Hope to hear from you soon
Thank you. I'm sorry I can't advise on those restrictions, they change a lot and are not the same for everyone. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what we needed.
REALLY USEFUL video, I was nervious in driving my mx5 nd from bristol to Nice which is over 1600km, but you just drove in the same car with me, give me a lot more confidence. just want to know what kind of camera you used in your middle windblocker and where i can get it?
Off to France in 3 weeks, drove there almost 8 years ago with no prob but needed a few reminders so this vid was perfect - great job!! One question - I know I need a UK sticker on the back of the car, but do I also need a UK sticker on the front also? Thanks!
In the EU you can often find 95 RON E5 as well as E10, unlike the UK where 95 is always labelled E10. Some E10 fuel in the EU, such as the eni brand in Germany, contains closer to the 10 per cent ethanol limit than the fuel sold in the UK, where "E10" contains between 5 and 7½% ethanol in practice (for now!). The best way to find out what your car likes, besides practical experimettation, is to read the car's operating manual (or sometimes the fuel cap interior) for the manufacturer's instructions/recommendations. In the instance of my car, it's slightly confusing as the cap reads: RON/ROZ 91-98, while the manual advises 98 recommended, 95 tolerable, 91 in an emergency (minimum sold in most of Europe is 95 RON anyway).
4:40 you said need a passenger to get tolle ticket or what every call it if you alone what you do .... how you get ... .option 1.stop 🛑 see around someone. 2. Jump to next beside your seat and there ... 3. Stop 🛑 then coming out of car walk through toole tick box or what.. 4. Should call to this lady to get ticket 🎫 🎟 By the way I need answer seriously
Illegal It's mainly in North America that it's legal in most places (not always), AFTER STOPPING and giving way as needed first (some drivers forget that part!).
@@russcattell955i, a French friend told me recently that French people thinks it's funny that Brits ever believed that you needed to carry a breathalyser anyway. Either way, they are not currently a requirement.
Your video is very helpful 👍 I have a question I applied for a crit air sticker and I received a digital copy through my email but still waiting for my paper sticker. Can I drive to Paris with the digital copy r I need to wait for my sticker?
I've been driving in the south of France for about 2 months now and my god the amount of times the French come in to the lane of oncoming traffic is mental. It is like they are too lazy to turn the steering wheel. Secondly, their parking habits are horrible, it's like parking spots are just a suggestion. But I do have to say they rarely try to cut in front of you and give way when they should.(excluding Paris)
Just to add, if a driver flashes their lights at you it does not mean I have seen you so please proceed in fact it means the exact opposite ie get out my way I am coming through. If you are entering a motorway the traffic will not give way to you, you must wait until there is an opportunity to enter the road. The driving manners in the South of France are worse then in the north. No idea why. Tail gating is the norm in France.Bad manners and rudeness ( especially lady drivers ) is also the norm.
If you get fined in France for a set of "GB" plates, the cop is officially an a..hole, or you did something really silly to get them angry. Priority to the right is the default rule in the absence of marking, they're actually pretty common, especially in small town residential areas, when the council wants to save on paint. The "black cross in a triangle" sign is just a reminder for some tricky ones, but most intersections don't have them.. You ALWAYS have to give way to pedestrians once they're on the road, even if THEY're not allowed to cross at that moment, a driver is by default 100% responsible in case of collision with a pedestrian.
I do own both rhd and lhd cars here in France. I drove it both in France and the UK. Never felt uncomfy here and there. The locals are consistent in their driving, so do the flows on roads, as a visitor it's your job to be locally consistent. Believe me but it took an hour to switch from France to UK (or vice-versa) and an entire day when I rented cars in some parts of Asia or South-America. A responsible driver checks the usual speed limits and priorities used where he is and applies it. A good driver controls his car and applies it to whatever is around. Being carefull as for some very first off-road driving in my very own area. Driving in Indian urban arreas was disturbing and turned into a funny way to go from pointA to pointB. Your points about sign's differences are pretty solid!
I am actually aiming for a road trip through EU next summer, so this is helpful. Even though there are some things mentioned here, that ARE similar to my country of origin... ;) (At least my steering wheel is on the "right" side! Hehe!) Good job mate, keep 'em coming! Cheers!
Just dropping by to say how helpful your video was when we travelled to France last year. We're going again this year and so I'm re-watching. These are excellent videos. Well done and thank you!
Moved to France but never drove in my first 4 years here. Just recently needed to drive so I took a a couple of refresher lessons and came across this clip which really helped me out. Thanks for making it! I'm comfortably on the road again
5:20 correction, unless you have the white/yellow diamond shape sign, you have to give priority to the right. So if you enter in a village and there’s a road on your right with no sign and no stop or else, then the basic give priority to the right is the rule by default. It’s very common if you’re not on a big national road.
Driven to France this week for the first time ever and I very much enjoyed the experience. Most of the roads were very smooth compared to the UK. I did however forget to get the crit air sticker but I just avoided any cities which require them.
I'm litterally going to France from the UK in 2 weeks time, off to paris. Immediately I decided we are taking her clio and not my modified cmax lol, I could do without the attention from the police over there 😂 hopefully the clio blends in well 👀
2:32 And a blue square is an information, for eaxample with numbers (speed) : white and red circle is limit, blue circle is minimum mandatory speed, and blue square is recommended speed 2:47 A Bis on a sign near a city/town name means another (longer) route possible and recommended (but not mandatory, which is for "déviation" signs) during peak hours (or days for holidays routes) to this place, as the main path is usually jammed with traffic at those times 2:59 It can be under 50 in urban areas, like 30 (nearly all of paris is at it for example), or 20 in pedestrian or encounter areas. Also, reducing speed (by law) is only mandatory if the normal speed limit is at 90 or above, so there is no "wet 70 kph" of any kind, it is 80 or 90 dry depending of the département you're in (confusing, I know) and 80 wet 4:07 For most of them yes, but not all of them 4.55 It is the by default rule if nothing says otherwise, which happens frequently, but some dont respect it believing the "largest road wins priority" 5:10 The Diamond mean prioritary ROAD, so priority to all crossings as long as you stay on this road, or until you see the ending sign, the same but diagonallybarred in black. The priority to your road at (only) the next crossing sign is Large vertical Arrow crossed by a thin forizontal bar, both black, in a white triangle with red border danger sign 5:26 those are not roundabouts but traffic circles, those are regulated by traffic lights at the entries, and some times also on the circle. You cannot mistake those two kinds as you have a yield before entering on it for one kind, and a traffic light (or sometimes nothing) for the other 7:30 Well, yes but actually no : you have priority if the pedestrian has a red light BUT it also in law that you should anticipate any possible pedestrian crossing the street, but you will be held full and responsible if you have an accident with a fragile road user (unless he jumped a barrier to cross or is on a motorway) 7:35 If the light if flashing amber on the BOTTOM (as shown) you can proceed with caution, as you said. But if it flashing amber in the MIDDLE, you must respect the sign and/or road paintingif there are some, and if not give way to the right 8:58 As the link you give says, The newest system is based on size, the oldest norm is still authorized (but not sold i think) though 10:51 On an entering slip road, a low speed limit is generally when there is a turn, probably even a hairpin for a 30, and should only being observed up to the turn's end 12:23 it's even 0.02 if you're a bus driver or are under 3 years of driving licence
Wow, didn't know you had another channel in addition to conquer driving. I passed my driving test following your instructions and was thinking about UK and more trips to Eu, and it doesn't get better watching your videos here.
I live in Kent and travel over to France with my family quite a bit, never driven over there myself... but something I notice is that hardly anyone uses the headlamp deflectors anymore. When we went to Belgium my dad knew the conditions weren’t awful and we wouldn’t be out driving at night so he just didn’t bother. 😅
it's very easy, been doing it for years. the hardest bit is turning left!! roundabouts are easy, nothing to worry about people. silly viseos like these try to make it look like it's hard
I think the only advantage to driving in france is the ability to load your car onto high speed trains to get places faster, otherwise rules are more confusing and cumbersome than the UK and the tolls are ridiculously priced
Not at all. U.K. roads are very confusing for foreigners, not to mention them tending to be overcrowded and badly maintained. It’s probably also worth pointing out that the TGV only carries passengers slow trains pull freight.
Headlamp deflectors… some cars with LED headlights don’t need these. As they’ll be a mode in the cars settings menu that automatically adjusts the beam of the headlight.
Those X signs are not only there to remind you to give way to the right. That is the standard rule, so why remind you of it? They primarily warn you that there is a (not very visible) crossroads coming! You have to give way to the right at every and any crossroad without signage, anyway. So counting X-signs tells you nothing about the applicability of the 'give way to the right'-rule.
That give way to the right rule is also very present in Norway. it is the standard rule when driving (most busy roads today have been converted to priority roads though.) Youll especially always have priority to right in residental areas and low speed areas, but before it even exist on high speed country roads. I guess this rule can startle some foreigners when suddenly cars pull out in front of you.
Really helpful video thanks. I don't recall you mentioning breathalysers, which I thought used to be a requirement in France. Also, spare bulbs. The bulbs thing always seemed ludirous to me as I imagine most modrern lights are sealed units where you wouldn't dream of opening them.
The breathalyser law was repealed a few years ago. For several years before that although it was still on the books the fine for not carrying them was €0.
Thanks Richard another great video. So many videos on driving in Europe are just about the rules before setting off and not the actual driving. I'm thinking of doing a trip to Belgium via France so this was really helpful.
what you said about cars getting damaged parking. it's actually a common practice in France especially in Paris. They pretty much take "bumper" quite litteraly and see it as means of bumping into cars to make your car fit. that's why it's also common for people to leave their handbrake of so other people can bump into your car to make it fit.
this is also why you see a LOT of scaped up dented cars in france, people just see their cars as tools to get from a to b and don't care too much about how it looks
I think the main reason you've not had to surrender to the right was because you took a lot of main roads with the yellow and white sign or the big cross where the main road you're on, the vertical stick, is bigger than the crossing line going through it horizontally (usually on a triangle shaped warning type of sign) As a new driver, I'm struggling because my commute includes an unmarked crossing where everyone surrenders to the right, same on the way to my baby's nanny. If traffic signs entirely fail, you're supposed to observe this rule as well. However, the second "priorité à droite" crossing on the way to the nanny has been changed to include stop signs and ground markings, making it easier : coming from nanny was slightly uphill and visibility was not good. They decided to put the stop signs to protect people coming from this road and it has been a relief, especially since I have the little one with me on the side of the car that would bear the brunt of an impact from any mistake on my part ! If there's roadworks, even if there's room, the speed limit will ALWAYS be 30kmph or 50kmph. Because it's assumed pedestrians are around and the code prioritises their safety, which, as someone who has friends in construction, I appreciate a lot. If these are very big roadworks to, say, add a lane to a motorway, it might go as high as 70kmph to help, such as what happened around Tours at some point, you may have crossed that town as I saw your video show a sign of the motorway leading to Orléans.
please keep in mind that there are special rules and speed limits for beginner's drivers (first two years of having your licence) in France. for example, a 130 km/h autoroute turns into a 110 km/h for a learner. additionally, you need a sticker with a big A on it ("apprenti"), meaning everyone will know you're a learner and will make fun of your driving skills (or lack thereof) accordingly.
If you ever are in Greece I would love to see you drive in central Athens at rush hour. I think you would have a great perspective having driven in many countries over the years
About giving way to the right, it is best practice to assume it is the case (and to slow down if visibility to the right is lacking) unless anything indicates otherwise, because very few are indicated as such (black cross in a red-bordered white triangle). A lot of places, especially in town, fall under this rule. If there's no indication at an intersection, give way to the right. You also mentioned the white-bordered yellow rhombus signal essentially saying the road you're on has priority and therefore doesn't fall under the giving way to the right rule. Well, sometimes such road will end its priority status with a white-bordered yellow rhombus barred in a red stripe, essentially saying that any intersection going forward (unless indicated otherwise) falls under the giving way to the right rule.
Don't mind me, an American watching this nodding my head as if I'm going to attempt to drive across France. Only been to Paris but I rather not drive and get into 10 accidents trying to go somewhere a mile away.
As a french driver, I find it very interesting to see what you guys say about driving in my country :)
I just heard you saying "never seen any case where you should give way to the right".
Beware, this is VERY FREQUENT in towns, and mandatory right given priority is hidden everywhere.
It is also indicated by a triangle sign with a black cross in the center.
I realised recently many french people don't even know what that sign means, but it is very important...
Oh also, round abouts where you have to give way to entering cars are very rare excepted in Paris. If you go outside Paris, you will almost never see any one of those weird dangerous things.
I did know about the triangular sign with the Black cross before I went to France, however I don't think I saw one. On this occasion I drove from Switzerland through France, Paris and back to England and and only saw I think 2 or 3 of those roundabouts where you have to give way on the roundabout, all in Paris.
In 21 years living in France I still can't get a French person to explain this rule and its origin. For most people to understand a rule it should be the same in all circumstances. My experience is that the signage is the issue not the rule. I'm just so used now to people just pulling out in front of me and looking for a sign that just isn't there.
@@aacmove It's been formally established in april 1926, after an international convention about automobile traffic. In France, the first road code was created in 1925 with an absolute priority to the vehicles driving on the main roads (called Route Nationale here).
However because at the time the drivers struggled to figure out if they were on secondary roads or not, this generated a lot of accidents. Therefore on avril 12th 1927, a priority to the right everywhere unless specified otherwise was implemented.
Ever since, if our roads do not specify anything (markings, signs, red lights...), you have to give way to any vehicle coming from the right. In cities, there is no warning, you have to analyse the road as you are driving and slow down at every corner.
On main roads though, we put this black cross sign to indicate that you will not have the priority, about 150m before the intersection.
Yesterday I went driving with my motorbike on secondary roads in "Gorges de l'Hérault", south of France. And I counted 5 of those signs along my way.
@@SteriCraft and yet. In a street where I live. Three side roads, 50 meters apart 1 has a sign to give way, the others don't. A sign which, when you are on the main road you can't see? The first on the right people stop. 50 meters later they pull out without even checking. It is not obvious to me why there are two different rules on the same main road.
@@aacmove indeed that's weird
“Sanss plombo” hahaha love you Richard. It means ‘without lead’ or unleaded. Essence means gasoline.
😂😂😂 Don't you just love it when people go to other countries more than once and are clueless in the lingo 🤔 🤔 🤔 A bit like everyone who comes to the uk😉
Or petrol even.
If you drive long distances in or through France, and even if only fairly often (eg once or twice a year), it’s really worthwhile getting an “EMovis” electronic toll tag. You attach it with a little adhesive clip provided to the upper inside of your windscreen. They allow you to use the automated toll gate lanes marked with an illuminated lower case “t” (for “télépéage” = automatic toll) or the pun “Liber-t” (pronounced “liberté”) which have tag readers which recognise your tag (you hear a “beep” - thus the franglais “bipandgo” name for the tag) record the toll charge against your account and lift the barrier. Some of them (marked with an illuminated “30”) allow you to approach at that speed without stopping, thus processing cars much more quickly. You’ll also find that it’s a minority of cars that have them and therefore those toll gates often have shorter queues.
No struggling to get your car close enough to the toll machine for your passenger to lean across! No long queues at major toll plazas! No struggling to find your bank card with an impatient queue behind you! No fraught in-car arguments about whether you’re close enough, where’s the card!
Your toll charges are accumulated and billed to your bank account next month. It works just fine with a UK bank account, the £/€ exchange rate used isn’t a rip off and all the communications for U.K. account holders are in English. There’s a set-up charge (I think €20) and a charge for additional tags or when your battery runs out and the tag has to be replaced - they last a long time if you’re an infrequent U.K. based user like me - but no other extra cost. Worth every penny.
Can confirm, payage tags save so much hassle. Slow down to less than 30kmh and drive right through. No need to mess with credit cards or cash, and also no need for a passenger if you are in a RHD car.
Is it worthy to get telepeage to get one time trip only ?
@@AyeshaAkram-wf2iu I think that would depend a lot on the trip. If you were driving the entire length of France, mainly on toll road and in a RHD car, then personally I’d say yes it’s is worth the €20 sign up fee just for the added convenience. But probably not if you are hiring a LHD car in France and touring for a couple of weeks, not all on tolls.
I drive tens of thousands of km in France every year and would not consider getting a tag. The reason? I never use the autoroutes, there are always better routes.
Dont forget to mount the tag on the passenger side of car interior mirror it will work a lot better
Parisiens leave their handbrakes off, this is so that anyone trying to squeeze in can push their car out of the way. You will often see what looks like a car being rammed, but its what they do. A big no no in France is holding someone else up, lane hogging, driving in an empty fast lane will just result in someone driving on your bumper waiting for you to get out of their way. Motorcycles are respected by everyone, a queue will part like the red sea to let them through. Hidden speed radars are common. They have the radar, then a couple of cops in the road around the corner who will stop you. Instant fine, cash, card or cheque. If you don't have any of them, you have a huge problem. Too far over the limit and they will take your licence away, instant ban, and you will have to find someone else to drive. You will not get your licence back in the UK for months. The small cars (Dagadags) that you see are the only vehicle that convicted drink drivers are allowed to use, they do about 30mph. Sunday afternoons is drink driving spot check time. French families meet up for Sunday lunch, drink wine, and get caught on the way home.
Lol very stereotypical but kind of true
Actually for the "empty fast lane" thing, it's the law. You're only allowed to drive on the rightmost lane unless you're overtaking. Passing on the right is illegal (with the 3 exceptions of traffic jams, trams, and left-turn only lanes), and it should in theory be impossible anyway since the other car is supposed to be overtaking you, not the opposite.
"Child seat requirements are too complicated for me to remember, here's a brief expla-- okay, nevermind, go look yourself, that's too much" lol
😂 I couldn't sum it up easily and I didn't want the video to be too much about that.
What kind of British person buys a convertible? One who drives with the top down even when it's cold enough to need a jacket and gloves _in France._
Open cars are a very British thing. The MX5 was built as a replica of the British roadsters from the 60s and 70s. Farther south in Europe, especially during the summer you will find most convertible cars have their roofs up, the shade is what counts.
This sort of information is extremely useful. I never knew what the yellow and white diamond meant until now. Keep up the good work!
You should know them, they’ve been used in the U.K. for at least 40 years.
Excellent video Richard👍Another recommendation for the Brits, when approaching a roundabout, vehicles already inside the roundabout have priority, the holy priority to the right on the mainland does not work in this specific case. Once you enter a roundabout, remember to indicate when you want to exit. You never know if the police are in the vicinity of the roundabout and if you don't, you're sure to catch a hefty fine.
Great video, exactly what I needed for my trip all explained so clearly. Cheers!
I've only ever driven, if outside of the Canadian province of Ontario, in neighbouring Quebec. That as although I was in the latter province for likely under 36 hours before driving back and have only driven in Ontario since then. For over 10 years I have held an equivalent of a Great Britain B-auto licence although needed to take 2 practical driving tests (as is still the case to get a NZ one) to become fully qualified.
Richard does make a claim about right turns on red in right-hand traffic parts of the world (7:10 mark). There's no doubt that that's the case, unless otherwise noted, in:
- Canada outside Montreal proper (with a February 2017 video from the then-Montreal-based Conduite Facile RUclips man [title: "Turning Right at a Red Light"])
- the contiguous US outside NYC (with a June 2022 video from Big Mac Sam about right turns on red having been permitted if a sign indicated that they'd been [title: "This Is the Only Time You Can Make a Right Turn On Red in NYC | #BigMacSam"])
About 3 years ago all the single lane roads with 90kph were all reduced to 80kph. However, just make life interesting departments were about 18 months ago given the option to go back to 90kph on roads they thought suitable. So you need to aware of the limit on single lane roads as it could be 80 or 90 and hopefully there will be a sign telling you. However, very often there won't be a sign, in which case always assume it's 80. There are moves to make them all back to 90, but has not been implemented as yet. With regard to the "priorite a droite", priority from the right. They are still very common in rural areas and may or may not have a warning that you are approaching one. If you approach a junction on your right and it does not have a white line or a stop sign, then traffic coming out of it have priority, and will not stop before pulling out in front of you. There are still roundabouts here that are not really roundabouts as you may think of them. If the do not have a sign telling you it's a roundabout or white lines on the road as you enter it, then the "priorite a droite" rules the apply and you may be happily going and suddenly a car will pull out onto the "roundabout" without slowing down or even looking, as they have right of way!
That's useful information thank you.
There will always be 90 signs in 90 limits.
@@davidmatthews3093 I live in France and can assure that the speed limit signs are often missing. So figuring out what the limit is can be quite tricky. They're introducing 30kph limits all over the place in towns and villages, often with speed humps just to make things more interesting.
Great to see this channel growing well as a fellow ADI I'm also a MX5 owner I always recommend your other videos to all my pupils all the best
3:05 It can be 80 or 90 on the dry out of town, depending on the roads (by default it's 80. It's 90 when signroad indicates it). On the wet, it's 80 anyway (for both 80 & 90 when it's dry)
Please don't drive at 70 when it's raining (except heavy rain). It's too slow ! 😆
Urban can be 30 or 50
Brilliant summary for travelling in France!! Thank you.
Most Petrol Stations in France are closed on a Sunday. Make sure you keep plenty of fuel in the tank if you are driving long distances on a Sunday!
Most supermarkets have automated 24/7 petrol stations, it's really not that difficult to find one on a Sunday even in rural areas. Automated 24/7 stations are becoming the norm in France. And petrol stations are of course opened on Sundays on the motorway. A non-issue to me.
yes they are closed but only the customer service, you can still fill your tank most of the time the exception being a closed fuel pump
As pointed out most fuel stations are self service 24/24.
Your video is good Richard, it's helpful and vauable to new French travellers. Thanks you for making this video.
What do you mean the wrong side of the road, isn't it literally the right one 😎
Also yeah, speed limits can be confusing, out of town it's 80, except if it's 70, except if it may be 90 (80 if new driver, or sometimes 90 still), or sometimes 110 (100 if new driver)...
During winter time, in certain regions, you have to have either chains or winter-homologated tires
Good practical video ...reminds me of army educational films for soldiers driving in west Germany during the cold war
Something I've always done is wear my watch the the left arm. Its a constant reminder and if you get confused, keep to the watch side.
But I thought in France you drive on the right 🤷
@@juliahutchinson4542 Maybe he drives everywhere in reverse?
loved the video richard lots of tips. You want to try driving in Naples you need eyes everywhere lol. I was told even the locals don't drive in naples its that bad
I have heard from an Italian that you need to be careful in Naples.
I did that about 5 years ago. It was fun in a brave way. Only touched one car on a main roundabout and she didn’t care , just kept driving.
Great vid, cheers mate. Worth mentioning / making a video about UK sticker and Eurolites. New laws mean all cars with the standard GB license plates need a UK sticker next to this as our country code changed. Also, for Eurolites the insturctions are absolutely useless, the only real way to test positioning and make sure it is correct is to point the car at a wall at night with down pointing headlights on. Then place stickers to get rid of the raised top left corner lights that UK cars show (this raised light is to highlight UK signs, but would dazzle french drivers.
Cheers mate. Very handy info. Will be popping over the weekend.
As a belt and braces measure to ensure I never drove a UK car on the wrong side of the road in France - I always put a sticky note on the dashboard when I turned the engine off. In fact I would do this for a European car too - just in case. Usually not a problem - but when you start off and there is zero traffic that is when you may find yourself inadvertently on the wrong side of the road.
The good thing about France is that they don't pay annual road tax. This means if a Frenchman/woman wants to drive from Calais to Cannes on holiday and you haven't reserved anything which has a deadline like a hotel, you could in principle drive the Route Nationale for free instead of taking the Péage (Toll roads) which costs you well over 100 euros.
Traffic on the right had to give way to traffic entering a roundabout in the UK at one time and I remember seeing signs to warn drivers the rule had changed. I don't remember when this was but defiantly before I learnt to drive in 1967.
I doubt anyone will see my comment but here I go. 112 is indeed the number to contact emergency services although it is that number pretty much everywhere in the EU. In France we have numbers specifically for services, 17 is for police, 18 for firefighters and 15 for medical emergency however if you don't speak French at all you may prefer to use 112.
I spotted you 👍🏻
Road signs in France are normally only present inmediately at the turning or exit same in Belgium whereas in Spain,Germany,Netherlands u get more advance warning.
No way do cumulative cost of tolls amount to anything near what you’ve quoted. When we’ve done it, little more than 50 euros
Thanks for your information. Respect
Only one hight visibility vest is required. Source : I pasted my theoryexam like 7 months ago and I remember it pretty well.
Out of town can be 90kmh dry or 80kmh wet , depending from your location
There definitively is right hand priority areas but a lot has been done do minimise them on newer roads.
Thanks for the information and video mate! I’m planning on a road trip through the EU
Its seriously risky to drive in Paris.
I'd stick with public transportation 😊
EU should place toll road terminals both sides for UK drivers like it did in Japan for drivers who imported cars from Europe and USA
Really not worth it when only 4 countries in the whole of Europe drive on the left. Whereas Japan is surrounded by countries that drive on the right
Get a Bip&Go toll tag, you don't have to worry about all that stuff.
@@benwyatt7619 Japan is surrounded by countries drive on the left , if you start comprehend on world map. Japan is country where the driver position doesn't matter as they have divided road directions unlike the EU.
If UK wants to pay for that, fine. The days of the EU accommodating 'British exceptionalism' are gone...
Why? Does the UK have double-sided toll booths for European drivers?
Nope. Usual entitled bigoted Brit comment mate.
I would add that turning on a green does not automatically mean you have priority over pedestrians crossing the road you are turning into. Example : you're turning on a green light, a pedestrian hasn't yet set foot on the road you're turning into, but is waiting to do so. If there is no pedestrian light for them, you must stop and let them cross. If there is a pedestrian light for them, obviously stop if it's green. Only if it's red can you proceed. This can often happen on exiting roundabouts.
All other pedestrian crossings without a pedestrian light are to be treated as you would a zebra crossing in the UK, e.g. stop - no barging through.
Technically, a pedestrian crossing where there is no pedestrian crossing also has priority, but only if there isn't anywhere else to cross within 50 meters, or something like that. It's a difficult to rule to observe in practice and most people will not give way to jaywalkers.
6:18 be careful, the blur doesn't cover the numberplate enough for it to be legible.
really useful video and so looking forward to driving in France in a few days time 🤣🤣
Driving a right hand drive car in the right lane. 😊
That's what US Mailmen do all the time. I've also seen it on garbage trucks, when the driver doesn't have a partner. They have special purpose vehicles with a right hand drive, to be more efficient when having to stop at every house.
Come to Romania if you want thrilling driving sensations.
8:08 what you said about the smart car kinda reminds me of the pink panther movie we’re the inspector tried to park his smart car and hits two police cars while doing it but yeah parking in Paris is dangerous and if ever plan to go there one day I’ll know what to look out for
Amazing video.. Really appreciated..👍👍
Yeah, that was very interesting and well described.
I lived in france for a period, and never in my life have i ever seen so many cars in ditches, off the road , once almost in a a tree and once, on its roof on a motorway slip road. Prioritie a droite is also insane - and signs for it are quite common in rural areas in my experience.. The sheer number of battered cars in Paris serves as a warning to avoid it if you value your vehicle.
I did notice a unusually high number of damaged cars in Paris.
@@RichardFanders Parisian and Marseillais drivers are crazy, to me that explains why road deaths are higher in France than other Northern European countries like the UK, Germany and the Netherlands which have safer roads. In Marseille, mopeds regularly swerve super fast straight through the middle of a crowd of people crossing the street who have the green man. Paris is nearly as bad with very aggressive and fast drivers who don't stop at zebra crossings
That’s funny. I’ve seen all those things in Britain. PaD us not insane, it’s different. It’s used in most European countries, it’s you that’s having the problem not the system itself.
@@davidmatthews3093 Yes, being able to pull straight out onto a busy road and demand that everyone stop for you makes perfect sense - especially when its not universally applied and confuses even the locals. Thanks for your clarification of this complicated matter.
Nice video
It’s
Ark Du Tree-Omff
San Plomm
Essance
Very good video, you have explained everything beautifully. Just one question? We are planning to do a road trip to Turkey soon. Driving through France and Italy then finally a ferry into Turkey. What are the requirements needed during this covid restrictions. We have 3 children all over 12 years old and oldest is 16 years old. Hope to hear from you soon
Thank you. I'm sorry I can't advise on those restrictions, they change a lot and are not the same for everyone. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what we needed.
REALLY USEFUL video, I was nervious in driving my mx5 nd from bristol to Nice which is over 1600km, but you just drove in the same car with me, give me a lot more confidence. just want to know what kind of camera you used in your middle windblocker and where i can get it?
Why no cats eyes or reflectors for night driving? Feels a bit weird..
Some roads have cats eyes, there are a lot of reflective road markings and signs.
And UK peoples are welcome in France, best regards
Great video, thank you ...
I’m glad in America you don’t need anything but license and insurance to drive the car.
And a horn (hooter)....... Brakes are optional. ;)
But this is about driving in a foreign country not your own.
8:04 Richard Hammond wasn't kidding
Very good
Do Poland, that would be interesting...
I may do, I go there often but am yet to drive there.
Interesting quick Polish road facts:
140-km top motorway speed limit
50-km limit in towns becomes 60 km during "unsociable" hours (not a bad idea!)
@@nobbynobbynoob Not anymore, a few years ago it was changed and now it's 50km/h in towns all the time
@@lemonpebble :'( Thanks for the update!
Off to France in 3 weeks, drove there almost 8 years ago with no prob but needed a few reminders so this vid was perfect - great job!! One question - I know I need a UK sticker on the back of the car, but do I also need a UK sticker on the front also? Thanks!
A sticker is only needed on the back.
Does the MX5 take E10 or does it need 98? Guessing E10 is the same in Europe as in the UK.
Yes, I put the cheapest fuel I can find in it. In the UK the cheapest is 95 RON so still good.
In the EU you can often find 95 RON E5 as well as E10, unlike the UK where 95 is always labelled E10.
Some E10 fuel in the EU, such as the eni brand in Germany, contains closer to the 10 per cent ethanol limit than the fuel sold in the UK, where "E10" contains between 5 and 7½% ethanol in practice (for now!).
The best way to find out what your car likes, besides practical experimettation, is to read the car's operating manual (or sometimes the fuel cap interior) for the manufacturer's instructions/recommendations. In the instance of my car, it's slightly confusing as the cap reads: RON/ROZ 91-98, while the manual advises 98 recommended, 95 tolerable, 91 in an emergency (minimum sold in most of Europe is 95 RON anyway).
Cheers v helful
You are the best
4:40 you said need a passenger to get tolle ticket or what every call it if you alone what you do .... how you get ...
.option
1.stop 🛑 see around someone.
2. Jump to next beside your seat and there ...
3. Stop 🛑 then coming out of car walk through toole tick box or what..
4. Should call to this lady to get ticket 🎫 🎟
By the way I need answer seriously
You could get a trashclaw and use it to grab the ticket and pass your money to the attendant.
You could also get the equivalent of EZPass.
Driving across the Channel isn't hard.
Did it last Wednesday, and it was a doddle.
Great video. How do I know if my Mazda 3 has a flat beam like your car? 🤔
If you shine your lights near a wall the beam should be level and not get significantly higher on one side.
@@RichardFanders thanks a lot for the explanation
Any idea if you can turn right if the lights are red in Norway or Germany?
Illegal
It's mainly in North America that it's legal in most places (not always), AFTER STOPPING and giving way as needed first (some drivers forget that part!).
Hi great video thanks, is there still rules on the breathalyser ? Cheers
Thank you, I don't know the breathalyser rules.
@@RichardFanders Self breathalysers are no longer of interest to the police, as once used you no longer have one.
@@russcattell955i, a French friend told me recently that French people thinks it's funny that Brits ever believed that you needed to carry a breathalyser anyway. Either way, they are not currently a requirement.
Your video is very helpful 👍
I have a question I applied for a crit air sticker and I received a digital copy through my email but still waiting for my paper sticker. Can I drive to Paris with the digital copy r I need to wait for my sticker?
I had an email saying I could. I would check for yourself though.
@@RichardFanders Thanks for your help 😊
I've been driving in the south of France for about 2 months now and my god the amount of times the French come in to the lane of oncoming traffic is mental. It is like they are too lazy to turn the steering wheel. Secondly, their parking habits are horrible, it's like parking spots are just a suggestion. But I do have to say they rarely try to cut in front of you and give way when they should.(excluding Paris)
You didn’t mention about swerving around the stairs / toilets on the train using the cut outs / lay-bys.
Just to add, if a driver flashes their lights at you it does not mean I have seen you so please proceed in fact it means the exact opposite ie get out my way I am coming through. If you are entering a motorway the traffic will not give way to you, you must wait until there is an opportunity to enter the road. The driving manners in the South of France are worse then in the north. No idea why. Tail gating is the norm in France.Bad manners and rudeness ( especially lady drivers ) is also the norm.
Says the rude xenophobic. Nasty.
try driving in Rome!
If you get fined in France for a set of "GB" plates, the cop is officially an a..hole, or you did something really silly to get them angry.
Priority to the right is the default rule in the absence of marking, they're actually pretty common, especially in small town residential areas, when the council wants to save on paint. The "black cross in a triangle" sign is just a reminder for some tricky ones, but most intersections don't have them..
You ALWAYS have to give way to pedestrians once they're on the road, even if THEY're not allowed to cross at that moment, a driver is by default 100% responsible in case of collision with a pedestrian.
Thank you for this. It's superb, No waffle - just great practical tips. Just what I needed.
I do own both rhd and lhd cars here in France. I drove it both in France and the UK. Never felt uncomfy here and there. The locals are consistent in their driving, so do the flows on roads, as a visitor it's your job to be locally consistent. Believe me but it took an hour to switch from France to UK (or vice-versa) and an entire day when I rented cars in some parts of Asia or South-America. A responsible driver checks the usual speed limits and priorities used where he is and applies it. A good driver controls his car and applies it to whatever is around. Being carefull as for some very first off-road driving in my very own area. Driving in Indian urban arreas was disturbing and turned into a funny way to go from pointA to pointB. Your points about sign's differences are pretty solid!
You definitely are a good driver. Hats off to you, sir.
I am actually aiming for a road trip through EU next summer, so this is helpful. Even though there are some things mentioned here, that ARE similar to my country of origin... ;) (At least my steering wheel is on the "right" side! Hehe!) Good job mate, keep 'em coming! Cheers!
Just dropping by to say how helpful your video was when we travelled to France last year. We're going again this year and so I'm re-watching. These are excellent videos. Well done and thank you!
Moved to France but never drove in my first 4 years here. Just recently needed to drive so I took a a couple of refresher lessons and came across this clip which really helped me out. Thanks for making it! I'm comfortably on the road again
5:20 correction, unless you have the white/yellow diamond shape sign, you have to give priority to the right. So if you enter in a village and there’s a road on your right with no sign and no stop or else, then the basic give priority to the right is the rule by default. It’s very common if you’re not on a big national road.
Driven to France this week for the first time ever and I very much enjoyed the experience. Most of the roads were very smooth compared to the UK. I did however forget to get the crit air sticker but I just avoided any cities which require them.
I'm litterally going to France from the UK in 2 weeks time, off to paris.
Immediately I decided we are taking her clio and not my modified cmax lol, I could do without the attention from the police over there 😂 hopefully the clio blends in well 👀
I'm from Belgium and i didn't know France had no lights on the motorway, wtf is that about?
2:32 And a blue square is an information, for eaxample with numbers (speed) : white and red circle is limit, blue circle is minimum mandatory speed, and blue square is recommended speed
2:47 A Bis on a sign near a city/town name means another (longer) route possible and recommended (but not mandatory, which is for "déviation" signs) during peak hours (or days for holidays routes) to this place, as the main path is usually jammed with traffic at those times
2:59 It can be under 50 in urban areas, like 30 (nearly all of paris is at it for example), or 20 in pedestrian or encounter areas. Also, reducing speed (by law) is only mandatory if the normal speed limit is at 90 or above, so there is no "wet 70 kph" of any kind, it is 80 or 90 dry depending of the département you're in (confusing, I know) and 80 wet
4:07 For most of them yes, but not all of them
4.55 It is the by default rule if nothing says otherwise, which happens frequently, but some dont respect it believing the "largest road wins priority"
5:10 The Diamond mean prioritary ROAD, so priority to all crossings as long as you stay on this road, or until you see the ending sign, the same but diagonallybarred in black. The priority to your road at (only) the next crossing sign is Large vertical Arrow crossed by a thin forizontal bar, both black, in a white triangle with red border danger sign
5:26 those are not roundabouts but traffic circles, those are regulated by traffic lights at the entries, and some times also on the circle. You cannot mistake those two kinds as you have a yield before entering on it for one kind, and a traffic light (or sometimes nothing) for the other
7:30 Well, yes but actually no : you have priority if the pedestrian has a red light BUT it also in law that you should anticipate any possible pedestrian crossing the street, but you will be held full and responsible if you have an accident with a fragile road user (unless he jumped a barrier to cross or is on a motorway)
7:35 If the light if flashing amber on the BOTTOM (as shown) you can proceed with caution, as you said. But if it flashing amber in the MIDDLE, you must respect the sign and/or road paintingif there are some, and if not give way to the right
8:58 As the link you give says, The newest system is based on size, the oldest norm is still authorized (but not sold i think) though
10:51 On an entering slip road, a low speed limit is generally when there is a turn, probably even a hairpin for a 30, and should only being observed up to the turn's end
12:23 it's even 0.02 if you're a bus driver or are under 3 years of driving licence
*13:35** It should consider the number of km traveled rather than population... we have a bigger country and longer distances.*
112 is standard in every EU country, and (I assume) still works in the UK. But typically UK did little to publicise this.
112 Works in the UK - 100% correct.
911 works in the UK too suprisingly. I actually dialed it and had to apologise when they answered...
Twice as likely, it's still unlikely
Wow, didn't know you had another channel in addition to conquer driving. I passed my driving test following your instructions and was thinking about UK and more trips to Eu, and it doesn't get better watching your videos here.
I live in Kent and travel over to France with my family quite a bit, never driven over there myself... but something I notice is that hardly anyone uses the headlamp deflectors anymore. When we went to Belgium my dad knew the conditions weren’t awful and we wouldn’t be out driving at night so he just didn’t bother. 😅
A lot of cars don’t actually need them or auto adjust. My car has flat beam projectors so it’s not needed
it's very easy, been doing it for years. the hardest bit is turning left!! roundabouts are easy, nothing to worry about people. silly viseos like these try to make it look like it's hard
I think the only advantage to driving in france is the ability to load your car onto high speed trains to get places faster, otherwise rules are more confusing and cumbersome than the UK and the tolls are ridiculously priced
Not at all. U.K. roads are very confusing for foreigners, not to mention them tending to be overcrowded and badly maintained. It’s probably also worth pointing out that the TGV only carries passengers slow trains pull freight.
Headlamp deflectors… some cars with LED headlights don’t need these. As they’ll be a mode in the cars settings menu that automatically adjusts the beam of the headlight.
Those X signs are not only there to remind you to give way to the right. That is the standard rule, so why remind you of it? They primarily warn you that there is a (not very visible) crossroads coming! You have to give way to the right at every and any crossroad without signage, anyway. So counting X-signs tells you nothing about the applicability of the 'give way to the right'-rule.
That give way to the right rule is also very present in Norway. it is the standard rule when driving (most busy roads today have been converted to priority roads though.) Youll especially always have priority to right in residental areas and low speed areas, but before it even exist on high speed country roads. I guess this rule can startle some foreigners when suddenly cars pull out in front of you.
Really helpful video thanks. I don't recall you mentioning breathalysers, which I thought used to be a requirement in France. Also, spare bulbs. The bulbs thing always seemed ludirous to me as I imagine most modrern lights are sealed units where you wouldn't dream of opening them.
I can't remember now but I'm not sure if you still need breathalysers.
@@RichardFanders I did some more checking and it looks like it's been dropped. Thanks.
The breathalyser law was repealed a few years ago. For several years before that although it was still on the books the fine for not carrying them was €0.
Drink driving limits are not uk wide, Scotland has a lower limit than rest of uk.
Thanks Richard another great video. So many videos on driving in Europe are just about the rules before setting off and not the actual driving. I'm thinking of doing a trip to Belgium via France so this was really helpful.
what you said about cars getting damaged parking. it's actually a common practice in France especially in Paris. They pretty much take "bumper" quite litteraly and see it as means of bumping into cars to make your car fit. that's why it's also common for people to leave their handbrake of so other people can bump into your car to make it fit.
this is also why you see a LOT of scaped up dented cars in france, people just see their cars as tools to get from a to b and don't care too much about how it looks
I think the main reason you've not had to surrender to the right was because you took a lot of main roads with the yellow and white sign or the big cross where the main road you're on, the vertical stick, is bigger than the crossing line going through it horizontally (usually on a triangle shaped warning type of sign)
As a new driver, I'm struggling because my commute includes an unmarked crossing where everyone surrenders to the right, same on the way to my baby's nanny. If traffic signs entirely fail, you're supposed to observe this rule as well. However, the second "priorité à droite" crossing on the way to the nanny has been changed to include stop signs and ground markings, making it easier : coming from nanny was slightly uphill and visibility was not good. They decided to put the stop signs to protect people coming from this road and it has been a relief, especially since I have the little one with me on the side of the car that would bear the brunt of an impact from any mistake on my part !
If there's roadworks, even if there's room, the speed limit will ALWAYS be 30kmph or 50kmph. Because it's assumed pedestrians are around and the code prioritises their safety, which, as someone who has friends in construction, I appreciate a lot.
If these are very big roadworks to, say, add a lane to a motorway, it might go as high as 70kmph to help, such as what happened around Tours at some point, you may have crossed that town as I saw your video show a sign of the motorway leading to Orléans.
Very nice. Best regards from Bosnia and Herzegovina 🇧🇦
please keep in mind that there are special rules and speed limits for beginner's drivers (first two years of having your licence) in France. for example, a 130 km/h autoroute turns into a 110 km/h for a learner. additionally, you need a sticker with a big A on it ("apprenti"), meaning everyone will know you're a learner and will make fun of your driving skills (or lack thereof) accordingly.
If you ever are in Greece I would love to see you drive in central Athens at rush hour. I think you would have a great perspective having driven in many countries over the years
There’s no such thing as a UK drink drive limit. In Scotland we are lower than the rest of UK
About giving way to the right, it is best practice to assume it is the case (and to slow down if visibility to the right is lacking) unless anything indicates otherwise, because very few are indicated as such (black cross in a red-bordered white triangle). A lot of places, especially in town, fall under this rule. If there's no indication at an intersection, give way to the right.
You also mentioned the white-bordered yellow rhombus signal essentially saying the road you're on has priority and therefore doesn't fall under the giving way to the right rule. Well, sometimes such road will end its priority status with a white-bordered yellow rhombus barred in a red stripe, essentially saying that any intersection going forward (unless indicated otherwise) falls under the giving way to the right rule.
Don't mind me, an American watching this nodding my head as if I'm going to attempt to drive across France. Only been to Paris but I rather not drive and get into 10 accidents trying to go somewhere a mile away.
really nice video