Prioritie a droite
Discussion
Make sure you are aware of this insane law in France. Even after having thousands of miles driving experience in France, I was caught out on this intersection. I was on a dual carriageway, the Clio raced into the intersection from behind a high wall on his left at about 35 to 40 mph as though he owned it. In any other country, he would clearly be at fault - but not in France.
Normally this intersection would have been controlled by traffic lights but as it was a Sunday, there were flashing yellow on all four streets which evidently meant give way to the right. As there were pedestrian crossings, I assumed the lights were a warning for that.
I am posting this in the hope that any of you planning a trip to the Continent will not suffer the same pain, frustration and expense that we have. Any intersection controlled by flashing lights or one that does not have a white stripe painted on the intersecting road means you have to give way to the right no matter how major your road is. Be aware that these stripes where they exist may be painted back from the intersection itself making them difficult to spot on approach.
This law also applies in Belgium and may apply in other countries who have not yet managed to make it into the 20th century never mind the 21st.
Normally this intersection would have been controlled by traffic lights but as it was a Sunday, there were flashing yellow on all four streets which evidently meant give way to the right. As there were pedestrian crossings, I assumed the lights were a warning for that.
I am posting this in the hope that any of you planning a trip to the Continent will not suffer the same pain, frustration and expense that we have. Any intersection controlled by flashing lights or one that does not have a white stripe painted on the intersecting road means you have to give way to the right no matter how major your road is. Be aware that these stripes where they exist may be painted back from the intersection itself making them difficult to spot on approach.
This law also applies in Belgium and may apply in other countries who have not yet managed to make it into the 20th century never mind the 21st.
We're living in Belgium at the moment and come across this all the time - totally insane. As you say, some of the roads from the right approaching the main road are little more than goat tracks and hard to spot yet still have right of way. They have done away with it in many areas (a yellow diamond sign shows that the route has priorty) but still easy to be caught out once you're off the main roads.
Sorry to hear of your plight.
Sorry to hear of your plight.
At least they have removed it from roundabouts (except for the Etoile in Paris). You used to have to stop on a roundabout to let traffic on. As you say, totally insane!
Our welcome pack/guide in our French cottage points this law out for our guests as our local village has a couple of glaring examples of this.
Our welcome pack/guide in our French cottage points this law out for our guests as our local village has a couple of glaring examples of this.
This driving on the wrong of the wrong b
ks caught me out a few years ago...
Drove off the ferry at Calais at stupid o'clock in the morning, left the ferry terminal aiming for the main road out of Calais, got to a roundabout, went around it & wondered why a dirty great big truck was heading straight for me with his lights flashing.
Gave him the finger as I swerved to avoid him - only then did my passenger say to me, in a very droll tone, 'tt. They drive on the wrong side of the road over here!!!.
And he didn't drive at the time! Realised my mistake, felt stupid, went into Calais itself, forgot again that they drive in the wrong side & I hit a bus!!!
Result? Car repatriated to the UK on the back of a low loader & I got a bking from my boss for crashing his car into a bus in France!
Strangely my passenger at the time never got into a car again when I was driving & we never did complete our duty free drink & tobacco shopping trip!
Why can't they drive in the same side of the road as us?
I do have photo's of aforementioned crashed Rover 100 in case anyone calls custard!
ks caught me out a few years ago...Drove off the ferry at Calais at stupid o'clock in the morning, left the ferry terminal aiming for the main road out of Calais, got to a roundabout, went around it & wondered why a dirty great big truck was heading straight for me with his lights flashing.
Gave him the finger as I swerved to avoid him - only then did my passenger say to me, in a very droll tone, 't
t. They drive on the wrong side of the road over here!!!.And he didn't drive at the time! Realised my mistake, felt stupid, went into Calais itself, forgot again that they drive in the wrong side & I hit a bus!!!
Result? Car repatriated to the UK on the back of a low loader & I got a b
king from my boss for crashing his car into a bus in France!Strangely my passenger at the time never got into a car again when I was driving & we never did complete our duty free drink & tobacco shopping trip!
Why can't they drive in the same side of the road as us?
I do have photo's of aforementioned crashed Rover 100 in case anyone calls custard!
fatboy69 said:
This driving on the wrong of the wrong bks caught me out a few years ago...
Drove off the ferry at Calais at stupid o'clock in the morning, left the ferry terminal aiming for the main road out of Calais, got to a roundabout, went around it & wondered why a dirty great big truck was heading straight for me with his lights flashing.
Gave him the finger as I swerved to avoid him - only then did my passenger say to me, in a very droll tone, 'tt. They drive on the wrong side of the road over here!!!.
And he didn't drive at the time! Realised my mistake, felt stupid, went into Calais itself, forgot again that they drive in the wrong side & I hit a bus!!!
Result? Car repatriated to the UK on the back of a low loader & I got a bking from my boss for crashing his car into a bus in France!
Strangely my passenger at the time never got into a car again when I was driving & we never did complete our duty free drink & tobacco shopping trip!
Why can't they drive in the same side of the road as us?
I do have photo's of aforementioned crashed Rover 100 in case anyone calls custard!
Of course this say nothing about your driving skillz... ks caught me out a few years ago...Drove off the ferry at Calais at stupid o'clock in the morning, left the ferry terminal aiming for the main road out of Calais, got to a roundabout, went around it & wondered why a dirty great big truck was heading straight for me with his lights flashing.
Gave him the finger as I swerved to avoid him - only then did my passenger say to me, in a very droll tone, 't
t. They drive on the wrong side of the road over here!!!.And he didn't drive at the time! Realised my mistake, felt stupid, went into Calais itself, forgot again that they drive in the wrong side & I hit a bus!!!
Result? Car repatriated to the UK on the back of a low loader & I got a b
king from my boss for crashing his car into a bus in France!Strangely my passenger at the time never got into a car again when I was driving & we never did complete our duty free drink & tobacco shopping trip!
Why can't they drive in the same side of the road as us?
I do have photo's of aforementioned crashed Rover 100 in case anyone calls custard!
Priorite a droite is about slowing trafic down, I have to deal with it every day where I live now. Don't like it, but it's easily dealt with.
They were not that good at the time simpy because I forgot that they drive in the wrong side of the road!! Idiots.
Was doing no more than 15mph when I hit the the side of the bus... Damage to my Rover 100? A lot. Damage to the bus? A slightly dented side panel which the driver undented with his foot!
Sadly my 100 suffered severe front end damage as did my ass when my boss finished with me! The KY did help a little though.
Was doing no more than 15mph when I hit the the side of the bus... Damage to my Rover 100? A lot. Damage to the bus? A slightly dented side panel which the driver undented with his foot!
Sadly my 100 suffered severe front end damage as did my ass when my boss finished with me! The KY did help a little though.
Kermit power said:
fatboy69 said:
I do have photo's of aforementioned crashed Rover 100 in case anyone calls custard!
Somehow, "my boss has lent me his car for our trip to France" and "Rover 100" just don't feel like they should be in the same paragraph! 
I got given the sodding thing as my next company car!! Replaced a horrid little Vauxhall Nova 1.2.
Puggit said:
Can I politely suggest you don't know much about this feature of French driving?
A yellow lozenge sign with a black line across it indicates "fin de route prioritaire" so there may be a sign to indicate that you must now give way to the right, but that's only if you were on a "route prioritaire" in the first place.However, I'm a bit puzzled as to how the OP can claim thousands of miles experience driving on French roads and yet be surprised by this basic rule of the road that has been around since the year dot.
Any other PHers who are inexperienced at driving abroad may want to read this before venturing off the ferry
http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/overseas/inde...
OP: Sorry you fell foul of the oddities of continental road rules. Failing to stop when meeting a 'PaD' junction has, far too often, met with especially British drivers coming off worse.
In some blind junctions where this can exist, unscrupulous motorists have been known to take advantage of the situation and actually pull out of the right h/s junction to cause a crash, hopefully writing off their 'P.O.S' car, and claim on someone else's insurance.
Sorry, Puggit. I disagree.
There are roadsigns and markings for 'PaD' junctions. They not only exist in France but certainly in Luxembourg & Belgium too, and are noted with:
This is usually also painted on the road at the relevant junctions.
Problem is, if you've not read up on this or encountered them, you wouldn't know what they mean.
RULE: If unsure, be extra cautious, especially in urban areas.
In some blind junctions where this can exist, unscrupulous motorists have been known to take advantage of the situation and actually pull out of the right h/s junction to cause a crash, hopefully writing off their 'P.O.S' car, and claim on someone else's insurance.
Puggit said:
chris7676 said:
It's not insane because you didn't know about it. They usually would have a sign as well.
Can I politely suggest you don't know much about this feature of French driving?There are roadsigns and markings for 'PaD' junctions. They not only exist in France but certainly in Luxembourg & Belgium too, and are noted with:
This is usually also painted on the road at the relevant junctions.
Problem is, if you've not read up on this or encountered them, you wouldn't know what they mean.
RULE: If unsure, be extra cautious, especially in urban areas.
Paddy_N_Murphy said:
Gadzoooks, driven from CDG to south of Paris many a time and had totally forgotten about this peculiarity.
I recall it from family holidays years ago that Dad made a deal of it, and off to South of France next week, but has 100% slipped my mind !
Ta !
Is this more of a 'countryside' phenomena ?
I recall it from family holidays years ago that Dad made a deal of it, and off to South of France next week, but has 100% slipped my mind !
Ta !
Is this more of a 'countryside' phenomena ?
@ Gadzooks - reminded me of Rentaghost!Not only 'countryside'. VERY common in towns too.
Bluebarge said:
However, I'm a bit puzzled as to how the OP can claim thousands of miles experience driving on French roads and yet be surprised by this basic rule of the road that has been around since the year dot.
To be fair I had driven quite a few times in France beofre it was brought to my attention as a result of a nasty accident on the entry to Houx a few years ago.5potTurbo said:
OP: Sorry you fell foul of the oddities of continental road rules. Failing to stop when meeting a 'PaD' junction has, far too often, met with especially British drivers coming off worse.
In some blind junctions where this can exist, unscrupulous motorists have been known to take advantage of the situation and actually pull out of the right h/s junction to cause a crash, hopefully writing off their 'P.O.S' car, and claim on someone else's insurance.
Sorry, Puggit. I disagree.
There are roadsigns and markings for 'PaD' junctions. They not only exist in France but certainly in Luxembourg & Belgium too, and are noted with:
This is usually also painted on the road at the relevant junctions.
Problem is, if you've not read up on this or encountered them, you wouldn't know what they mean.
RULE: If unsure, be extra cautious, especially in urban areas.
I disagree that there are normally signs - not in urban areas. To give an example, here is a junction near our house where you can just pull out from the square on to the main road: LinkyIn some blind junctions where this can exist, unscrupulous motorists have been known to take advantage of the situation and actually pull out of the right h/s junction to cause a crash, hopefully writing off their 'P.O.S' car, and claim on someone else's insurance.
Puggit said:
chris7676 said:
It's not insane because you didn't know about it. They usually would have a sign as well.
Can I politely suggest you don't know much about this feature of French driving?There are roadsigns and markings for 'PaD' junctions. They not only exist in France but certainly in Luxembourg & Belgium too, and are noted with:
This is usually also painted on the road at the relevant junctions.
Problem is, if you've not read up on this or encountered them, you wouldn't know what they mean.
RULE: If unsure, be extra cautious, especially in urban areas.
Even though I know this junction, and have driven it countless times, as a UK motorist I can't just pull out without stopping! You'll notice that as you drive up the hill there is no X sign.
There are some X signs near our house though, on the country routes. For example a single track dusty lane has priority over the D route! Linky
I was approaching this intersection at between 23 and 28 mph. Yellow lights were flashing on each aaproach to the intersection and the road was wet. The third party arrived at a speed in excess of 30mph behind the wall on the right.
I would also point out that French drivers are not particularly tolerant of other vehicles driving cautiously, even foreign ones.
In the years I have been driving in France more and more roads intersecting from the right have been made to give way even in priorite a droite areas which make the situation even more dangerous as there will be the occasional few to catch you out.
I would also point out that French drivers are not particularly tolerant of other vehicles driving cautiously, even foreign ones.
In the years I have been driving in France more and more roads intersecting from the right have been made to give way even in priorite a droite areas which make the situation even more dangerous as there will be the occasional few to catch you out.
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