Ever driven in France?

Question

Is it me, or is bad driving a way of life. I like French people, but driving there is a f\/çkîn nightmare!!!! Please share your experiences & Merry Christmas all

Answer 1

Yeah they drive on the wrong side, totally confusing and they are not very gracious when you get it wrong, especially on a narrow bridge!.  Merry christmas too you

Answer 2

rode a motorcycle from cherbourg to st tropez   was a very enjoyable ride  the roads were smooth  the drivers  didnt hog the outside lanes  and i found   most people tried to help 3 lost people  yeah we should of taken maps  with us

would do it again with no probs

Answer 3

i have. drivers are aggressive but i noticed they at least know how to drive and know the rules very well unlike americans. france compares favorably with the USA when it comes to road death rates. the denser the country the more accidents you'll get but they are fender benders for the most part. driving on french highways is a breeze. country roads are great until a local tailgates you, which they do a lot. city driving is scary if you are not familiar with french rules but the french know the rules and are very good drivers. you DO have to be assertive on french roads.

Answer 4

its similar to the UK - just on the other side of the road =]

merry christmas to you too =D

Answer 5

Drove through South and Southwest France this Fall.  I'd have to say that, in general, they drive better than Americans (at least in big cities!).  The main thing I was impressed with is that on the major autoroutes/highways, people actually used the left lanes to pass, and the right lanes to cruise.  Once someone passes, they immediately return to the right lanes.  In my hometown of Honolulu, for example, you'll get people going 45 mph in the fast lane and 75 in the slow lane...

My philosophy is that there are bad/crazy/incompetent driver almost anywhere around the world.  French highways (at least in the south) are some of the most organized I've ever experienced.

Answer 6

yeah 10 years ago......... i still aint got over it !

Answer 7

I lived there for a number of years and learned to drive there. Did my test there. I think the driving tuition is alot more comprehensive than in my country and while I drove there{after my test} I thought the French drivers were dreadful. When I started driving in my own country, I realised we are far worse and I am a much worse driver since returning home.

Answer 8

i have driven in France, Belguim and the Netherlands . i never had any problems while driving in Europe. they always seem to be polite, never been flashed or had a horn sounded at me. its always a pleasure to drive in Europe

the worse place i have driven is in and around Dublin, they love to cut you up, speed,

Answer 9

i did get a lot of flashing lights  i could not grt to grips with the left turns and then getting into the right hand lane

Answer 10

The French are notorious bad drivers.

The law in this matter is that the further you go south, the worse the driving gets.

The french are almost unable to use their turning lights, drive too fast and have a urge to drive all at the same time creating huge traffic jams especially in the most crowded areas.

But it gets worse if you are going in Italy or Greece.

And don't even try North Africa!!

In France the upside is the roads are excellent, with a very good macadam and clear signs. The transportation system is overall one of the best in the world.

Answer 11

You LIKE French people!!-  there's your problem - learn to hate them and drive at them as they do to everyone else and you won't notice their bad driving!!

Answer 12

You cant beat the British for the worse ever driving.

Highway code ? never heard of it !

Driving on the left ? For foreigners maybe !

And a h**l of a lot more like that.

If you drove in France the way you drive over here, I am not surprised that you had a F...cking nightmare. So, YES it is YOU !

Ps: Mid last year, a Police and Insurance survey was published about driving habits across Europe.

The Brits came on top for being the very worse ever drivers, overtaking the second worse (ex-Yugoslavians) by no less than 42% !!!!

That should give you a clue !

Answer 13

I'm quite the opposite. I find driving in the UK a complete nightmare. French Roads are better surfaced, lined and signed, there is less traffic and more freight travels by rail than the UK. As for the motorway  service and rest areas, Wow! Lovely

Answer 14

yes your right,and I've only been on the outskirts,they have a famous roundabout,which is almost suicidal,but I havent had tried it

Answer 15

it was a nightmare, came out the tunnel the fog was terrible couldnt see car in front, the motorway was shut ended up in a built up area with a man with a laser pen in my face, the police wouldnt help lost for 6 hours. never again that was ten years agox merry christmas backx

Answer 16

After marrying a Frenchman, I had to get a French driver's license. It was very expensive, very comprehensive and very stressful. I now feel like I spend half my life on the road. We have three kids and I'm "Mommy taxi" all day. I am not in Paris but in one of the worst places in France to drive.

First of all, French drivers are very aggressive. The driving instructors actually told me outright that if I didn't get a bit more assertive, I'd be a danger on the road. Now, I think I've over compensated...

There were some very different rules. If you want to change lanes, you look for an open spot, put on your blinkers and immediately change over. Now, when I go home to California, I see all these blinkers and get confused. Who is moving when and where? Meanwhile, they honk at me when jump over too fast.

You cannot simply stay in the fast lane. This is actually against the law. I actually had a friend who was ticketed for that (suspected racism but let's leave that for now...) The point is, if there's room in the right lane, you're supposed to move over. The left lane is only be for passing. Of course, if there's too much traffic, this point is moot.

I dislike the fact I have to drive so close to the other cars. Yes, I have to. If I leave any room, someone will move in between us! When I have visitors, they don't like me riding on the guy in front of me's butt and I actually have to explain this.

I've been in two accidents in France that I've directly blamed on how close we were. One was a "pile up" in bad weather but it was too late to avoid hitting them. The other was a moped which decided to jump in front of the guy in front of me. He explained later that he simply hit the breaks. He didn't even look behind him, he was so determined NOT to hit those two kids without helmets. The police treated him like a hero and all the witnesses supported us.

There are so many more accidents in France. It's in the papers every day. They have terrible stats. You see people on the side of the road exchanging insurance information all the time. I've witnessed small accidents myself...

They do really unpredicitable things, like making left hand turns from right hand lanes, running reds, not signalling, slamming on the brakes, not looking when they back out, etc. You have to drive completely defensively all the time.

The cars are smaller than in the U.S., many in poor condition. Some drivers don't have licenses or insurance.

Be aware that talking on a cell phone is strictly illegal in France. In some American states, this is still allowed or not enforced. This is a serious offense in France so don't risk it.

You can't turn right on a red light (allowed in California and some other American states) but often there is a yellow blinking arrow which means that you can proceed with caution, either for turning or going foward at certain intersections. Often it's because of a pedestrian passage so be very aware of this. Tourists often aren't aware and wonder why they have all these honking French cars behind them.

Depending on where you are, be aware of the green and orange diplomatic plated cars. They are bad because they don't have to have French licenses and don't know the road rules. "Corps Diplomatique" drivers could be from anywhere and are capable of doing anything. You can't know unless they've slapped something on their car, which they rarely do.They don't care about anything. They wont get in trouble because of diplomatic immunity. The only solice is that these cars are big targets for vandals and are often robbed. Avoid them like the plague and try not to even park next to them (easy to avoid since they're usually parked illegally anyway).

On the plus side, don't get upset if anyone yells or honks at you. French drivers get mad but they wont do anything dangerous. People don't own firearms and they wont try to harm you, even if they get all red faced. Go ahead and simply yell back and move on.

Be aware of speed traps. They love to put them up all sorts of crazy places. This is tricky since traffic can be going really fast but the posted limit is much lower. You're not allowed to go over 50mpk within city limits but I find it funky what they consider to be still within the city limits. I was nabbed on an open strip, next to a cemetary and an abandoned railway station. It was "aglomoration" and I lost 2 points off my license as a result! Dumb, dumb, dumb...

Make sure you have all your paperwork handy. Last time I was stopped, I couldn't find my insurance papers and I was lucky and he took pity (telling me outright that with kids in the car, and having a decent car, he knew logically that I was indeed insured).

Always drive with your windows up or only cracked. Keep your car doors locked at all times. A mentally ill woman tried to get in my car last month at a stop light. My french teacher was robbed when a moped drove in front of her to prevent her from moving when the light turned green. Working together, someone else on foot reached in and stole her bag off the passenger's seat. This is easy to avoid if you keep slightly cracked windows and the doors locked.

Lots of beggers at stop lights. I actually keep snack bars in my car and give that to them instead of money (which I don't want used on drugs or booze). They are actually quite grateful and never refuse. These people harmless albeit not too clean, and you see the same ones on the same corners.

Since driver's licenses are so expensive, many of the bike riders don't have them, and are therefore a bit clueless about the road rules. People have commented how I look the wrong way when entering one-way streets. I have my eyes peeled for bikes ALL THE TIME. I assume that they're going to do something stupid at all times. Many don't look or don't care. Mopeds and motercycles are bad too but the bikes without lights or reflectors are especially invisible.

Just some advice on parking. Try to park where you can get in and out. I always try to be next to a pillar or wall so that I'm guarenteed to get back in my car. French drivers are very bad parkers too. They don't care if they're too close and block others so try to place your car in a way that they can't mess you up.  

If you're not in France yet, make sure you're completely comfortable with backing into spaces and parallel parking. You'll need to use both skills a lot. Where I live, there are a lot of old roads which slope down on the sides, making parallel parking especially tricky as I feel like I'm sinking into the gutter!

I got my French license in 2001 and my French citizenship in 2002. Don't get me wrong, I love living in France and have no desire to return to the States but I'll never love driving. I've just made my peace that there are certain things I will always hate about France and driving tops the list.

No, I'm lying. It's shop opening hours but that's due to change. Nothing's going to improve the driving conditions. I just have to grin and bear it...

Answer 17

Paris is horrendous but everywhere else is good as the roads are better and less crowded than England