Which wouldn’t be so bad if the standard of driving was better! I do question what driving instructors here do. And roads here are far less congested, so accident rates should be lower than the UK. But they are way higher!
Interesting.
Make lots and lots of money if the prices of lessons and tests are anything to go by 
I think you’re wrong on a number of counts there Ancient Mariner…
- The discussion of speed limits here is very much like discussions in France
- It’s really not possible to generalise about ‘the French’ on this kind of subject - ask any Breton about Paris drivers (or Corsicans!)
- In my experience, speed limits are far more widely ignored in the UK anyway - you’re in danger of reflecting that Daily Mail view of EU regulations - the wonderful law-abiding Brits stick to them to the letter while the greasy foreigners merely pay lip-service!
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How much experience do you have of French driving instructors and driving tests Jane?
Again, my experience - and two of my children, and a number of their friends, are currently having lessons, or have recently taken tests - is that the system here is better than the UK’s - and in particular much more thorough - both instruction and testing.
Also, it’s a big leap from ‘there are more accidents’ to ‘drivers are worse’ - there might well be many other factors influencing accident figures (I can think of dozens).
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Drivers know where they are going at junctions and roundabouts here in the UK. Why they keep it such a secret is a mystery.
I think more French drivers struggle with the concept of thinking and stopping distance on non- motorway roads than we do here though of course we still have countless brain dead using our motorways.
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Isn’t that a generalisation in itself? 
Maybe it’s different in Brittany but in my experience of driving here there seem to be plenty of people who seem to set off from home with their indicators on to overtake and leave them on!
Not driving Audis, then 
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Well, where I am, drivers on the whole are pretty good at sticking to the speed limit or at least close to it. You do get some who don’t and zoom past you at the first opportunity, but I’d say they are in a small minority. I think that driving here is so much more relaxing than driving in the UK, and I moved from a pretty rural area in the UK, in the pennines.
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or Opel… one really good feature of our Opel was the indicator flip switch. One quick flip and the indicator would flash a few times and then self cancel. Hold it down momentarily and it would stay on until cancelled by the driver. Very useful on the road when overtaking.
All four of our children have learnt to drive here and I can confirm that the instruction/testing is rigorous to say the least. Unfortunately, once they have the PDC the French totally ignore the instruction they’ve received and drive like maniacs, the sheer number of accidents and road deaths is testament to that.
I hate the constant comparison with the UK but on driving the stats don’t lie, the number of road deaths here are nearly double that of the UK. Personally, I believe that is partially down to the French attitude to drink driving which is very different to the UK’s, no doubt others will disagree.
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“I think you’re wrong on a number of counts there Ancient Mariner…”
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It’s really not possible to generalise about ‘the French’ on this kind of subject - I think @Geof_Cox means it’s not possible for others to generalise
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In my experience, speed limits are far more widely ignored in the UK anyway - But it’s quite ok for @Geof_Cox to generalise
Don’t worry @Ancient_Mariner you’re newish here, you’ll soon understand it’s not a good idea to discuss politics, religion or sex or question the sermon.
Next we’ll be standing in groups of three taking it in turns to say part of a word 
Henri
Henri - I don’t normally see comments from Geof.
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Ha ha ha ha ha
Now that’s funny, have a great sunny day in France 
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I realise you said it’s your ‘second bite of the apple’ so to speak, but you’re considerably newer here than @Ancient_Mariner? He took time to understand the ebbs and flows of the forum when he first joined, much better than I did I think, introduce himself and gradually become more of a part of conversation, which is perhaps why he seems newer than he is. This entire sentence is nothing more than inflammatory really, it’s not accurate and doesn’t really help the conversation move along at all. Perhaps Ancient M could help you get a handle on this place and you’ll soon understand… 
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I’m young, I’ll learn 
No - just a statement of my experience in the UK - I made no general statement about ‘the English’.
It’s impossible to completely avoid generalisations of course - which is why I wrote specifically about generalisations such as ‘the French’ ‘on this kind of subject’.
Also noticeable that my view was ‘liked’ by our only regular French contributor! I do sometimes wonder just how ‘integrated’ some of the Brits here are!
I would imagine it should be possible to point out perceived driving habits in a country without being presumed to be a Daily Mail reader who thinks Europeans are dirty foreigners?
Likewise taking the fact that a ‘French’ person has liked your post to insinuate that many others are not sufficiently integrated is quite funny. I think the person in question is more international than many.
I am not saying this to start an argument there is just something quite comical about the whole thing.
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It was light hearted banter!
Have been driving here for 25+ years, and in general drivers seem to pay less attention (they don’’t need to perhaps with empty roads) and are less courteous to other road users. Tailgating is appalling here, and as for taking it in turn to feed in - it’s just push and shove. But the one thing they do very well is overtake bicycles.
Such as? Killer trees? I can’t think of any where the driver has no influence.
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@anon2524019 I’m just catching up on posts this morning so haven’t seen everything but I think it’s time to say your post above is unacceptable. It’s not done here to post ad hominem attacks and you did 2 : on Geof_Cox and on Ancient Mariner. Very widely differing views are accepted here but personal attacks are not. We can get that in other forums.
Could you please consider and edit or remove? I agree on some points you’re making generally, I love the machine knowledge that you’ve brought too so I am hoping you will stay around but barring a very few lapses comments tend to be made indirectly or neutrally and not personally here.
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