Strange driving habits in France?

[Pan Pan Pan]

These days I only do around 4000 miles a year on the continental mainland, most of those in France, Coming back from the latest jaunt, one practice that struck me as being a bit odd, was the way drivers there seem to come up to within a few inches of the rear of the car in front, with their offside indicators flashing, even when the car in front of them is already travelling at (or even above) the speed limit. It doesn't seem to be being done aggressively, it just seems to be something that many drivers there do.
Having watched a Fiat 500 doing it to a Porsche 911 turbo, it looked like a mouse trying to sh*g a Great Dane.
Surely the Fiat driver would know that his car didn't stand a chance of out dragging the 911?, in this particular instance the driver of the 911 gave it a stab to pass traffic in the nearside lane, and left the Fiat like it had stopped dead, after which he slowed to the speed limit, and pulled into the nearside lane. When the fiat finally caught up with the 911, instead of going past it just tucked in and stayed behind the 911 at a respectable distance, leaving me thinking what was all that about?
Ah our French Cousins!

[mike9009]

I 'think' the French have always done this. They were doing it in the 90's when I was over there many times and still doing it now whilst I was in Paris a few weeks ago.

It is a matter of intent - 'I need to get somewhere quicker than you' or whatever the French is for that??

[Porsche911R]

Move over then, the UK stay in the right hand lane, and block the motorways, in France they have much better lane control.

I would say the uk has the strange driving habits when every one stays right !

[MrGTI6]

Sounds like they're intolerant of anyone who can't exercise proper lane discipline. Good for them.

[Taylor James]

The expectation is that you overtake briskly and then get right. You are not expected to crawl past traffic you are overtaking, regardless of the speed limit. Having a 911 turbo or any other performance car is completely irrelevant. Why should it be? You don't get brake testing either.

[Baldchap]

It means 'please let me pass'. It's been a feature of continental driving for decades.

It isn't 'fk you' or 'You're an idiot', it's simply 'please may I pass'. The correct response is usually to speed up beyond the flasher's desired speed or get in and stop lane hogging.

[Pan Pan Pan]

Porsche911R said:

Move over then, the UK stay in the right hand lane, and block the motorways, in France they have much better lane control.

I would say the uk has the strange driving habits when every one stays right !

The 911 driver could not get over, because there was a long line of HGV`s (strangely also indulging in their own version of tailgating eachother) in the nearside lane. by accelerating away from the piddly little Fiat, and then pulling to the nearside once past the HGV`s, the 911 driver did the only thing possible to get out of the Fiats path, and even then, had to exceed the limit thereby breaking the law to do so. Made even stranger by the Fiat tucking in behind the 911, and not going past.
You seem to be defending tailgating, even when the car in front is already travelling at, or slightly above the statutory legal speed limit. How odd.

[Doofus]

It goes in combination with the French habit of not actually accelerating when they overtake somebody.

[Jasandjules]

Fairly normal driving. Also note in Germany a car 6" off your bumper at 90mph will be flashing you out of the way. This is not deemed aggressive but your fault for being in the way of a faster moving car.....

[Taylor James]

Pan Pan Pan said:

Porsche911R said:

Move over then, the UK stay in the right hand lane, and block the motorways, in France they have much better lane control.

I would say the uk has the strange driving habits when every one stays right !

The 911 driver could not get over, because there was a long line of HGV`s (strangely also indulging in their own version of tailgating eachother) in the nearside lane. by accelerating away from the piddly little Fiat, and then pulling to the nearside once past the HGV`s, the 911 driver did the only thing possible to get out of the Fiats path, and even then, had to exceed the limit thereby breaking the law to do so. Made even stranger by the Fiat tucking in behind the 911, and not going past.
You seem to be defending tailgating, even when the car in front is already travelling at, or slightly above the statutory legal speed limit. How odd.

The 911 clearly could get over and eventually did get the message. As I said, in France, travelling at the speed limit is not viewed as an acceptable reason for holding someone up. You'd have to ask the Fiat driver why they didn't want to go faster than the 911 once that car had got past the trucks.

Your description of "piddly little Fiat" wouldn't make sense in France. They generally don't have a perceived hierarchy of cars over there so you could be driving a Bugatti and expect to have a Smart car on your tail if you were fannying about. When in Rome...which is pretty similar to driving in France but with more shouting and gestures.

[vonhosen]

Taylor James said:

Pan Pan Pan said:

Porsche911R said:

Move over then, the UK stay in the right hand lane, and block the motorways, in France they have much better lane control.

I would say the uk has the strange driving habits when every one stays right !

The 911 driver could not get over, because there was a long line of HGV`s (strangely also indulging in their own version of tailgating eachother) in the nearside lane. by accelerating away from the piddly little Fiat, and then pulling to the nearside once past the HGV`s, the 911 driver did the only thing possible to get out of the Fiats path, and even then, had to exceed the limit thereby breaking the law to do so. Made even stranger by the Fiat tucking in behind the 911, and not going past.
You seem to be defending tailgating, even when the car in front is already travelling at, or slightly above the statutory legal speed limit. How odd.

The 911 clearly could get over and eventually did get the message. As I said, in France, travelling at the speed limit is not viewed as an acceptable reason for holding someone up. You'd have to ask the Fiat driver why they didn't want to go faster than the 911 once that car had got past the trucks.

Your description of "piddly little Fiat" wouldn't make sense in France. They generally don't have a perceived hierarchy of cars over there so you could be driving a Bugatti and expect to have a Smart car on your tail if you were fannying about. When in Rome...which is pretty similar to driving in France but with more shouting and gestures.

And on the 'french Speeding Ticket' thread

DocSteve said:

After their adjustment I recently got done for 82kph on a rural road in the Loire... 2kph over ffs!

[Cold]

A 911 Turbo is no match for a determined French driver in a small car.

[Pan Pan Pan]

Taylor James said:

Pan Pan Pan said:

Porsche911R said:

Move over then, the UK stay in the right hand lane, and block the motorways, in France they have much better lane control.

I would say the uk has the strange driving habits when every one stays right !

The 911 driver could not get over, because there was a long line of HGV`s (strangely also indulging in their own version of tailgating eachother) in the nearside lane. by accelerating away from the piddly little Fiat, and then pulling to the nearside once past the HGV`s, the 911 driver did the only thing possible to get out of the Fiats path, and even then, had to exceed the limit thereby breaking the law to do so. Made even stranger by the Fiat tucking in behind the 911, and not going past.
You seem to be defending tailgating, even when the car in front is already travelling at, or slightly above the statutory legal speed limit. How odd.

The 911 clearly could get over and eventually did get the message. As I said, in France, travelling at the speed limit is not viewed as an acceptable reason for holding someone up. You'd have to ask the Fiat driver why they didn't want to go faster than the 911 once that car had got past the trucks.

Your description of "piddly little Fiat" wouldn't make sense in France. They generally don't have a perceived hierarchy of cars over there so you could be driving a Bugatti and expect to have a Smart car on your tail if you were fannying about. When in Rome...which is pretty similar to driving in France but with more shouting and gestures.

So lets get this straight,
the 911 driver was in the offside lane travelling at the legal limit of 130 kph, passing a series of HGV`s in the near side lane, all at about 10 to 15 feet apart, and if you were driving the 911 you would brake hard, to drop your speed to match that of the Hgv`s (bearing in mind that you already had a Fiat 500 several inches from the rear of your car) so that you could then slot your car between 28 tonne Hgv`s, in a gap that was hardly longer than the car you were in?
If you did that, you would be one of the most dangerous persons on the road.

[ClaphamGT3]

Baldchap said:

It means 'please let me pass'. It's been a feature of continental driving for decades.

It isn't 'fk you' or 'You're an idiot', it's simply 'please may I pass'. The correct response is usually to speed up beyond the flasher's desired speed or get in and stop lane hogging.

Absolutely correct - it is the more mannerly equivalent of flashing your headlights which, in France and much of continental Europe, is reserved as a “I’ve asked you nicely, now just fk off out of my way” signal

[Taylor James]

Pan Pan Pan said:

Taylor James said:

Pan Pan Pan said:

Porsche911R said:

Move over then, the UK stay in the right hand lane, and block the motorways, in France they have much better lane control.

I would say the uk has the strange driving habits when every one stays right !

The 911 driver could not get over, because there was a long line of HGV`s (strangely also indulging in their own version of tailgating eachother) in the nearside lane. by accelerating away from the piddly little Fiat, and then pulling to the nearside once past the HGV`s, the 911 driver did the only thing possible to get out of the Fiats path, and even then, had to exceed the limit thereby breaking the law to do so. Made even stranger by the Fiat tucking in behind the 911, and not going past.
You seem to be defending tailgating, even when the car in front is already travelling at, or slightly above the statutory legal speed limit. How odd.

The 911 clearly could get over and eventually did get the message. As I said, in France, travelling at the speed limit is not viewed as an acceptable reason for holding someone up. You'd have to ask the Fiat driver why they didn't want to go faster than the 911 once that car had got past the trucks.

Your description of "piddly little Fiat" wouldn't make sense in France. They generally don't have a perceived hierarchy of cars over there so you could be driving a Bugatti and expect to have a Smart car on your tail if you were fannying about. When in Rome...which is pretty similar to driving in France but with more shouting and gestures.

So lets get this straight,
the 911 driver was in the offside lane travelling at the legal limit of 130 kph, passing a series of HGV`s in the near side lane, all at about 10 to 15 feet apart, and if you were driving the 911 you would brake hard, to drop your speed to match that of the Hgv`s (bearing in mind that you already had a Fiat 500 several inches from the rear of your car) so that you could then slot your car between 28 tonne Hgv`s, in a gap that was hardly longer than the car you were in?
If you did that, you would be one of the most dangerous persons on the road.

I would, but I didn't say any of that. You need to read what I posted again.

In the hypothetical situation of me driving that 911 I would have had several options including:

1) Squirt past, regardless of the speed limit, and get right. Sounds like that's what the 911 driver did. No-one died.
2) Proceed at a constant speed until I was past the HGVs, accepting that I would have a Fiat 500 on my back bumper.
3) Slow down gradually to try and maintain the 'safe gap' so beloved by obstructive drivers.
4) Brake test the Fiat. Otherwise known as 'the British method'.
5) Demonstrate my awesomeness by disappearing over the horizon.

I would have chosen 1) if I was confident there were no cameras and 2) if I was unsure.

I wouldn't be remotely fazed by the behaviour of the Fiat driver as I know it's quite normal in France and nothing to get worked up about. The only people who get worked up about it are those drivers who are obstructive, incompetent, wannabee trafpol or some combination of the three. I suppose you could add people who think that owning a certain type of car confers some kind of status on them.

Anyone who drives a lot in the UK knows that there is a massive problem with the sort of drivers I have just described. We seem to put up with it. Continental drivers don't.

[Initforthemoney]

Years ago when in a jaunt to the south of France, we were in the inside lane and a mk1 Renault 5 came past us with the Speedo needle bouncing on the max speed stop.

[DJP]

Having just returned from another continental road trip I'd say that the French take lane "discipline" a little too far.

They seem to indulge in "swooping and zooming" whereby they get right up the arse of the vehicle they're overtaking and then pull around it at the last second.

So, if you pull into the overtaking lane in good time you just get baulked by a piddly Peugeot or Renault who decides to pull out at the last second, right under your nose just as you're about to overtake the truck or whatever.

And, having overtaken, they also seem to pull in less than a car length front of the vehicle they've just passed even if there's nothing behind them.

It seems designed to minimise their time in the overtaking lane. True, you get used to it easily enough and they don't get lane hogs, but it does seem a bit pointless at times.

[littleredrooster]

Baldchap said:

It means 'please let me pass'. It's been a feature of continental driving for decades.

It isn't 'fk you' or 'You're an idiot', it's simply 'please may I pass'. The correct response is usually to speed up beyond the flasher's desired speed or get in and stop lane hogging.

^ ^ This.

It's their etiquette, and is not intended to be rude or aggressive, just their way of saying " 'scuse me, I may be in a bit more of a hurry than you - do you mind?"

[unsprung]

I love PH threads like this. The small cultural bits. Along with the occasional jab.

Those who say it's a Continental practice have my vote. Not only in France.

Occasionally I do it here in the US, but a) I never get too close to the car in front and b) I do it only when the car appears to be driven by a fellow enthusiast (because, apparently, they "know" about this practice or they intuitively understand what to do).

[Pericoloso]

Initforthemoney said:

Years ago when in a jaunt to the south of France, we were in the inside lane and a mk1 Renault 5 came past us with the Speedo needle bouncing on the max speed stop.

Similarly,the Panda is the quickest car in Italy.