Raymond, I know what it states but when in Rome...! I'm also a cyclist, used to ride a motorbike and agree wholeheartedly about never trusting other drivers!
I drive a discovery and have with a trailer it hasn't been my experience. I've also not noticed many cars slowing down to pull out and I usually pull out if I can when a car is on the slip road. However we all have different experiences
On the recent visit of my son, I felt I should explain to him the wonders of the ‘priorité à droite’ system, where you can be contentedly pootling through the middle of a town and some righteous local can blat out of a side street and turn your shiney, new Range Rover into a crumpled Strange Rover - and he’d be in the right! If there’s no white line painted across the junction; watch out! I got sworn at by a car full of nuns for not spotting that.
I remember well when it was frequently the case on roundabouts that you just had to let more and more vehicles onto it until they were stacked three high.
One day, when I was living in Normandie, I was driving into the centre of our local town: Vire. They had one of those stupid ‘priorité à droite’ roundabouts at that time that was constantly blocked up solid.
I was feeling a bit fed-up; you know, not actually depressed, just work-a-day blues. I was thinking that I could do with something to cheer me up, when I saw, jammed around the other side of the roundabout, a huge German articulated lorry with 6 ft high letters on the side saying: “WANK”. And that was me tittering for the rest of the day.
The Germans do seem to have a problem with some of their words. It's a mountain in Bavaria, apparently… I wonder what shape it is?
Andrew, La Code de la Route states that if a pedestrian indicates that he wishes to cross, he has priority!
Try googling the law on roundabouts, basically, you can be in any lane for any exit but if you change lanes and have an accident, you are at fault...madness!!
I used to be a motorcycle instructor, driving in UK ain't so hot at roundabouts, I'd stand my guys at a roundabout for 1/2 an hour practically every driver was at fault for signalling wrongly or positioning wrongly. I hope that over the years, I've saved a few young lads' lives by teaching them not to trust any driver!
We would disagree with this as we drive a Land Rover Discovery and trailer on the motorways and even when the cars in front are obviously going to overtake several slow moving lorries (or caravans etc.) in front they pull in between the lorries knowing full well that they will be pulling out to overtake the next one and will do so without taking note that the Discovery coming up behind is perfectly capable of overtaking them and the lorries and is trying to do so before it pulls in again out of the way of the faster vehicles.
Another nuisance on motorways etc. is the way they use the entry lane. They have a tendency to slow down and go to the end of the lane then pull out, instead of speeding up to join the flow of the traffic asap. Again we notice this more in a bigger vehicle as they will invariably pull out in front and slow us down instead of speeding away in front.
The rules for French roundabouts are different. It is normal to take the outside lane, whatever exit you intend to take. Moving to the inside lane is optional and you must signal if you intend to do that. You are required to signal when you exit. The outside lane has priority. A bit difficult for UK drivers to get used to that, but it does work if everyone obeys the rules.
But mini-roundabouts are a problem for everyone, because there isn't enough time to give a useful signal before making your exit.
yep, Brits are horrendously bad at motorway driving/middle-lane/outside lane cruising! The best are the autobahns in Germany with the expected German discipline and the sections with no speed limit...!
On motorways though the French are much better than the Uk drivers they seem to always pull in once they overtake unlike the UK idiots who sit in the outside lane at 70. Yes it is the speed limit but people should have the choice of sticking to the speed limit within the bounds of reason.
Yes, I've often thought that some signposts are there simply to confirm that you made the right choice! Positioning on roundabouts does not seem to be taught well, and keeping up with the traffic seems to be taken literally, leading to unnecessary tail-gating. Deviation signs I tend to ignore - there is often a little gap that you can get through, or else they quickly run out. I used to think the signalling was bad, but it seems to be optional in Britain, too, now.
Ken,
The priorite a droite seems to be a hangover from the days of horses and carts, when it probably worked very well with low density, slow traffic. It works like a roundabout in reverse (drivers entering the "circle" have priority over those already in it) but without taking up any extra space. But unless you are going to slow to walking pace, there is always a chance of getting caught out at a minor crossroads, especially if it is impossible to see round the corner until the last moment. Anyone with any sense would look to look to see if it is safe to proceed, regardless of priority, but it appears that there are some who just see it as a way of making an inflated insurance claim on an old banger that is ready for scrapping. But you may remember the "crash for cash" gangs back in the UK. Cars are getting better all the time, but the roads are a jungle.
Jane, I have heard that argument.
The advanced driving people say there is no need to make a signal if there is no one there to see it. But that doesn't provide for possibility that someone might arrive on the scene between the moment you decide not to make the signal and making the maneuver. Maybe better to make an unnecessary signal?
Advanced drivers are also taught not to signal when moving to a slower lane on motorways, because that is what you are supposed to do anyway. But most people make those signals, though it could be mistaken for an intention to exit at the next junction.
What a cracking idea :-)
Signalling automatically was not advocated on the police driving course I took, because it can lead to failure in looking in the rear mirror.
By the way it was a course offered at the local college, not because I had been naughty!
Been there, done that!
Seconded ;-)
Had forgotten those, Brian, don't see them round here much thoug :-D
Doreen, never stop at a crossing unless you have to (i.e. you'll run the person down if you don't) otherwise you'll cause an accident! :-O
Did it once (unintentionally) and scared a couple of mates $h..less, myself too when I saw the bus comming towards us...! :-O
What about Deviation signs off main road into the middle of nowhere and then stop redirecting........... but where on earth are we?
Depends where in Asia. India scared me rigid, I would never take the wheel in Pakistan or Thailand but I have been the length and breadth of Viet Nam where it is a gentle flow on first class roads.