French Life : Driving you mad

Here at P-O Life, we are certainly not ones to stereotype but there are definite cultural differences between the road etiquette in the P-O and that of the Yorkshire streets we grew up driving on!

A 2021 study by the Fondation Vinci Autoroutes revealed that 79% of French drivers admit to breaking the Code de la route (Highway Code), with Occitanie drivers being the most likely (33%) to believe that certain rules are intended solely to deliver penalties or fines!

Here’s a breakdown of what P-O Life readers have noticed while on the move, as well as what the rules actually say!

Indicators

Article R412-10 of the Code de la route states that any driver who is about to change the direction of their vehicle or slow down must warn other road users of their intention, and in not doing so is liable to a fine or a loss of 3 points.

Sometimes they do, but often they do not! Local Gendarmes even published a joke on social media, calling for witnesses to the worrying disappearance of indicators in the region!

Zebra crossings

Zebra crossings, safe passage for pedestrians… or not! According to article R415-11, drivers are obliged to give way to pedestrians crossing the road, or clearly indicating their intention to do so, at the risk of losing a whopping 6 points!

In reality though, brave or foolish would be the pedestrian who didn’t stop, look and listen, multiple times, before stepping out from the pavement!

Tailgating

We’re sure you’ve experienced the car behind following so closely they could pinch the baguette from your boot! Unless you’re of a particularly calm disposition, it can be a very unpleasant experience, particularly when the driver also flashes their headlights, trying to get you to move out of the way!

Article R412-12 states that when two vehicles are following each other, the driver of the second vehicle must maintain a sufficient distance to avoid a collision if the vehicle in front slows down or stops suddenly. The distance must be at least the distance travelled during a period of 2 seconds.

The penalty for not respecting the safety distance is 3 points… so back off, buddy !

Priorité à droite

An oft-overlooked part of the code de la route could explain why cars seem to pull out in front of you with no warning.

Article R415-5 says that when two drivers approach an intersection from different roads, the driver coming from the left must give way to the other driver.

In fact, even if your road seems like the main road, when another road joins from the right, and there are no white markings at the junction, they have right of way! And you can lose 4 points from your licence if you don’t let them pass!

French road safety stats

Based on the above, you could be forgiven for believing that the highway code has been replaced by highwaymen (and women!).

BUT World Heath Organisation statistics show that you are less likely to be injured in a road accident in France than many other major EU countries!

AND the World Economic Forum’s 2019 Competitiveness Report rate France as one of the best countries for extensiveness and condition of road infrastructure, ranked 18^th out of 141!

What’s your experience of driving in France? How does it compare to where you learnt to drive? Let us know in the comments below!