Err… It’s probably got something to do with the OP’s title. Posters are perfectly entitled to pint out that the problems experienced are not unique to or even worse in France. I feel sorry for people who have to tool up with webcams and the like to defend their driving superiority, they have obviously chosen to live in the wrong area, the roads around my home are great. Mind you that theory falls down, I don’t live too far from Paul Lewis and I don’t experience the extremes that he does.
Thanks Paul,
Here near Lalinde, I’ve noticed that many French drivers have slowed down.
10 years ago 100km/hr was the norm where it was safe, now, most stick to 90.
I am a biker and have never felt as safe on the roads as i do in France.
There are numpties but they are everywhere, i have lost count of the number of times someone has pulled out on me onto a main road/roundabout, crossed my path to turn off the road infront of me, accelerated when i am trying to overtake because i am bored sitting behind someone doing 20 less than the speed limit, but then i moved to france, and having re-educated myself and taken a couple of lessons with an english speaking instructor to make sure i am up to date with differences between the french road laws and the uk ones, i have never felt so safe, whilst things do move a bit quicker, and gaps seem somewhat less, at risk of generalising, i feel the the french are a lot more respectful of other road users and generally better drivers than our uk counterparts
LOL ! and still the comparisons with the UK continue - how bizzare. As a reminder the title of the topic is:
Can anyone explain why policing of speeding, road safety and dangerous driving are such low priorities in France?
Erm, I’ve just got back from the UK and I can reliably inform all our readers that the top speed possible on the M25 and A3 is about 50 mph. If you are lucky.
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The answer is then they are not. What a shame that you will not allow people to make comparisons.
Well there’s a thing, perhaps you’ve forgotten about the middle lane drivers, the people who want stop a motorhome overtaking by accelerating hard as soon as the indicators go on.
Oh and as a motorcycle user there are of course the people who find it difficult to allow a motorcycle room and piece of mind ( I travel 12,000 miles a year, I am IAM and RoSPA).
Do you know I almost forgot about phone users, I always thought that tailgating was more of a British way of life. Gosh the list could be endless, slowing down in low cloud due lack of visibility, try switching the wipers on. And last of my rant I live in rural North Yorkshire, try dealing with those who would visit our area but don’t know the width of there vehicle and assume all others will give way.
@Aquitaine You go ahead and make as many comparisons as you like - you are allowed! My point is simply that the driving habits of people in other countries have zero effect on me in France. I happen to think that driving standards in France are poor. You disagree - that’s fine 
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I am more than pleased to let tailgaters go. I prefer someone like that in front rather than behind me. Yes I agree 20km below the limit is downright dangerous. We use the main roads in a tourist area. Tourists seem to forget that peopleare trying to get to work or a rdv with their next client. How many near accidents have I seen when people end up either really close in a queue behind a tourist or others try to overtake.
I understand that there are fundamental differences in the way we drive in the UK and the way my kids are taught to drive here. We stop or give way at sidestreets. They sail out looking to their right. I think it is not a bad idea to have a lesson with a french instructor.
Agree Véro - there’s been an explosion in the number of speed cameras and mobile checks,the latest are the mobile static ones for road works. The more recent ones monitor traffic in both directions too, and the newer poteau type are near invisible until it’s too late! Add to that that many are no longer indicated and you get an idea of the national plan to reduce speeding. OH and I have a lot of points over the years, more recently, almost piègé by rather zelous gendarmes in areas where they weren’t needed whilst, I agree, other areas need more controls. Believe me - the french are losing points hand over fist at the moment, I know this first hand as I’m linked to the national computer in rennes and take payment of their fines in my tabac!
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I’m in Charente but I think it’s more or less compulsory to drive recklessly all over France. Best thing you can do is to drive properly yourself and ignore as best you can all those who either drive idiotically (and I admit to hating the many tailgaters), or drunk - and these do not iin clude just the French!!, There are a few sensible drivers but indeed they are few and far bweteen and I admit that I have had to catch myself from driving as badly as I did when I was younger.
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On my 22 km journey back from Lycée to Bergerac this afternoon I had 2 longish waits, one for a crash involving 2 cars, the road was blocked and there were ambulances and police cars and motards; the other was in town, someone drove straight into the base of the fountain at La Madeleine in Bergerac and wrote off the front of their car and left it on the roundabout waiting for the lorry to pick it up, they must have been going pretty fast over the old bridge…
Today a van passed me and 3 vehicles in front, coming up to the brow of a hill. He just pulled in as another van came over the hill. It was close. Earlier I was driving through a village and a cyclist pulled out in front of me. Once he was on my side of the road he put his arm out to indicate! Also when crossing a roundabout a car coming from the right just drove through in front of me at speed. These are regular occurrences…
I drove from the depths of the Charente to Northern France today without using a péage. The only things of note were that most of the traffic on the open road was travelling at nearer 80km/h to 90, the only car travelling really fast outside of any town was a 64 registered Quasqui and every single car i saw driving fast in built areas was a Mercedes.
I creep along in mine 
actually I tell myself my mercedes is SOLID and when some idiot crashes into me they will end up squashed and not me. I hope.
My father was rear-ended at 160 or so in the same car as mine by a BMW on a German motorway last year ( v nasty multiple pile-up, the BMW driver had apparently fallen asleep with his cruise control on) anyway he and his two passengers walked out of it completely unharmed even though his car was a write-off.
It would appear that we see what we want to see based on our own view of the world around us. We simply look for ‘evidence’ to reinforce those views which entails ignoring anything to the contrary.
Some people drive like tosspots, many people are tosspots in or out of a car, in a car they are just dangerous tosspots…
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Exactly, you are the perfect example of that behaviour. We only report what we see. Others do not process information in the same way and some people are less tolerant of differences than others.
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@vero Well said! The worst offenders being the druken immigrants!
Todays French road experience for me was trying to join the RN20 dual carriageway behind a local tosspot who almost parked up on the slip road. Merging from slip roads seems to be another ‘challenging’ manoeuvre! Along with a few throwbacks who still think those joining a roundabout have priority! It’s like Wacky Races out there!
@anon88888878 Surely though, the roundabout thing is just ‘french’? - Priority adroit etc - totally alien to the average Brit who is taught to sit and wait at a roundabout until there are at least 3 clear car lengths before entering the roundabout…
In my nearly 10 years in france, I have always found merging from slip roads less of a challenge that on UK roads… french drivers seem less likely to claim ‘ownership’ of their bit of road and adjust to accommodate the joining traffic.