Definitive list for France please.

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Paul-R
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Re: Definitive list for France please.

Post by Paul-R »

Interesting. Not a huge number but I didn't know any existed. I'm not at all sure that the advice given for the C4 Picasso (all have Z pattern dip that does not require switching) is correct though.
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Re: Definitive list for France please.

Post by Timmo »

It is an old list though, seems there is no up to date version yet, quite possibly down to choice of search phrase?
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Re: Definitive list for France please.

Post by Bob L'eponge »

Daytime running lights have been mentioned a few times. Not obligatory in France but they are in Switzerland if you pass though on your trip.

Also worth noting that drivers are supposed to slow down and give at least 1m space when passing cyclists, mopeds, animals or pedestrians when in a built-up area, and 1.5m on the open road, which is about the width of 3 extra bikes. This effectively means that you are supposed to wait until there is no oncoming traffic so you can move out over the center line to overtake. (The illustration in the UK Highway Code implies much the same, but no minimal distance is specified in law, unlike in France.)

Also, the limit will almost always be 50km/hr when passing though villages, even on main routes, and it is in such places that the police are most likely to set up a speed control check.

The French are rubbish at indicating properly when using roundabouts, which are treated more as filtering devices, with cars entering them if there is any gap in the circulating traffic. This is in part a legacy of the tradition when cars entering roundabouts generally had priority, and you will still see some signs telling you that you do not have priority to underline the fact that this tradition no longer applies. Also French roundabouts tend to be quite tight so as to slow down circulating vehicles, so people often assume they can enter the roundabout without been hit.

Despite rumours to the contrary, 10 years of living here strongly suggests that the police are more likely to target French plated cars than 'tourist' vehicles, especially when the local mayor thinks doing so would be bad for business. To be honest, I wish the French police would target foreign plated vehicles (and it has to be said especially British ones) a lot more, mainly because a very large proportion of Brits out here run vehicles illegally. The usual trick is to keep a vehicle in France, whether as a 'holiday' vehicle or as a British immigrant, permanently on British plates, often recorded on a SORN notice in the UK. These vehicles will have UK headlights, no valid MOT or Controle Technique and in all probability no valid insurance. Before the government stupidly got rid of the VED disc, such cars were easy to spot, having UK plates but no VED disc or one months to years out of date. In some ares, such as around Morzine, perhaps 40% of all the British plated cars one would see parked up in the ski stations would fit this description!
Article R414-4
I. - Avant de dépasser, tout conducteur doit s'assurer qu'il peut le faire sans danger.
II. - Il ne peut entreprendre le dépassement d'un véhicule que si :
1° Il a la possibilité de reprendre sa place dans le courant normal de la circulation sans gêner celle-ci ;
2° La vitesse relative des deux véhicules permettra d'effectuer le dépassement dans un temps suffisamment bref.
3° Il n'est pas lui-même sur le point d'être dépassé.
III. - Il doit, en outre, en cas de nécessité, avertir de son intention l'usager qu'il veut dépasser.
IV. - Pour effectuer le dépassement, il doit se déporter suffisamment pour ne pas risquer de heurter l'usager qu'il veut dépasser. Il ne doit pas en tout cas s'en approcher latéralement à moins de 1 mètre en agglomération et de 1,50 mètre hors agglomération s'il s'agit d'un véhicule à traction animale, d'un engin à deux ou à trois roues, d'un piéton, d'un cavalier ou d'un anima

Les sanctions possibles
V. - Le fait, pour tout conducteur, de contrevenir aux dispositions des II à IV ci-dessus est puni de l'amende prévue pour les contraventions de la quatrième classe.
VI. - Cette contravention donne lieu de plein droit à la réduction de trois points du permis de conduire.

Article R413-17
I. - Les vitesses maximales autorisées par les dispositions du présent code, ainsi que celles plus réduites éventuellement prescrites par les autorités investies du pouvoir de police de la circulation, ne s'entendent que dans des conditions optimales de circulation : bonnes conditions atmosphériques, trafic fluide, véhicule en bon état.
II. - Elles ne dispensent en aucun cas le conducteur de rester constamment maître de sa vitesse et de régler cette dernière en fonction de l'état de la chaussée, des difficultés de la circulation et des obstacles prévisibles.
III. - Sa vitesse doit être réduite :
1º Lors du croisement ou du dépassement de piétons ou de cyclistes isolés ou en groupe...

IV. - Le fait, pour tout conducteur, de ne pas rester maître de sa vitesse ou de ne pas la réduire dans les cas prévus au présent article est puni de l'amende prévue pour les contraventions de la quatrième classe.
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Re: Definitive list for France please.

Post by Timmo »

An aside, the uk law on passing cyclists has been amended to 1.5m or equivalent to opening your car door, a big crackdown on close passing has been carried out in a lot lf force areas.

I enjoyed the slow speed village limits, the vilages have so much character you would otherwise miss, some on the way to pops van have awesome speed ramps that in a green balled car are beautifully smooth, npt so in the wifes modus! :D
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Re: Definitive list for France please.

Post by Paul-R »

Re: DRLs. Are they suitable to satisfy various countries' (Czech Republic, Slovakia, etc) laws which require driving on dipped beam? I've never really come across a definitive answer.
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Re: Definitive list for France please.

Post by Richard_C »

I have done many miles in France and seen very few cars stopped by police. A few miles down the A26 there is a crest of a hill behind which Monsieur Plod waits with speed gun - if its not lunchtime and its not raining. Another one just north of Dijon. If you are bowling along at 130 kph plus a bit in a bunch of cars eyelids are not batted, if you are hurtling along in a fancy foreign registered motor with ££££ worth of skis or bikes on the roof at well over the limit, nice big police motorcycles descend on you a couple of miles down the road. I suspect they then enjoy fining you for every minor thing they can find - hi viz not got EU approved sticker, roof box nasty colour, skis not a French brand, self satisfied smarmy git face, breathing whist being Belgian, anything.

The speed limit as you go into villages is not signed except on some main roads. The red bordered village name also acts as 50kph limit sign unless otherwise posted, limit ends when you see the greyed out version after the village. As Bob says, you sometimes see bored looking Gendarmes with a speed gun but seems to be fewer these days. Village are calm places and the French are far more caring about cyclists and children than we are here - speed through a village and they will get cross. You need to be careful anyway, madame in her Renault 4 which had a rear view mirror until it fell off in 1973 will soon be bouncing off the kerb into the road.

So roll along, enjoy, fit in with locals on speed and stuff, just like you would here. I don't think the French police target UK drivers, or any other nationality, they do target (word redacted).
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Re: Definitive list for France please.

Post by elma »

I've only ever found French police helpful, even the ones walking round the station with submachine guns. Not that I've been to France much since I was a kid but compared to British and German police I thought they were very nice.
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