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Right of Way in France 2
Intersections in General
Intersections are dangerous places by their very nature. Before entering an intersection, you must:
- Adapt your speed to the visibility
- Observe all other drivers
- Advertise your intentions with turn signals, flashing brights, etc., as appropriate
- Respect the laws of right-of-way
- Remember that even if you have right-of-way, you still need to be careful
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| When there are no other indicators (signs, lights, lines on the road, etc.), you yield to the right, even if you're on the bigger road. This is a bit difficult for an American driver to get used to, but it comes up a LOT in France. It's called "priorité à droite". The sign to the right means you do NOT have priority at the next intersection and you must yield to the right. |
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| At a yield sign, you must yield to the left and the right. You don't have to stop at the yield sign if there is no danger. Yield signs in France are just like those in the U.S. If there's a small rectangular distance sign below the yield sign, the yield occurs in the distance supplied and not at the sign. The sentence "cedez la passage" basically says to yield (literally, "cede the passage"). |
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| On the road next the the yield sign should be a thick dashed line. On a two-way road, the line will be only across the lane affected. On a one-way road, it will go all the way across the road. The line will be placed a short distance beyond the sign itself. |
| At the stop sign, you must stop. Oddly enough the signs look exactly the same as in the U.S., including the seemingly English word "STOP". In the driving test, you could see the phrase "marquer un temps d'arrêt", which means "spend some time stopped". Sometimes, there will be a yield sign with a small distance sign to warn you a stop sign is coming up. |
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| On the road next the the stop sign should be a thick solid line. On a two-way road, the line will be only across the lane affected. On a one-way road, it will go all the way across the road. The line will be placed a short distance beyond the sign itself. You actually stop at the line and not the STOP sign. |
| With the sign to the right, you have priority at the next intersection, so you don't have to yield to the right. This is not the same as being on the "priority road" (see next sign), as it's only for the next intersection. In French, it's called "priorité ponctuelle". |
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| This sign indicates that the road you're on has priority. In French, it's called "caractère prioritaire". It is not placed before every intersection, but it is often placed AFTER an intersection to tell those who just joined the road. It's repeated at least every 1km in the city or every 5 km in the country. Entering a town ("agglomeration" in French) cancels the priority by default, but if this sign is just above the town entry sign, the road keeps its priority inside the town. |
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| This sign indicates that the road you're on no longer has priority. After the sign, you will have to yield to the right at any future intersections. |
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| Complex intersections are often announced with signs like the examples to the right. The priority road is a thicker line and all the roads represented by the thinner lines have to yield to it. You are always on the road entering from the bottom of the sign. The example on the left says you are on the priority road, which will be turning left. The example on the right says you are not on the priority road and you will have to yield. Be sure to understand these signs because almost every test I've taken has had a question about them. |
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| If you're exiting the priority road, you do not yield to any of the non-priority roads, but you do have to yield to the traffic coming from the other direction on the priority road, if necessary. |
If it is still not clear to whom you yield, pretend the thick line is straight. For the left example, that would look like the sign at right. (Of course, this sign doesn't really exist, but it's useful for demonstration purposes.) Now it should be obvious to whom you have to yield if you want to turn onto one of the non-priority roads from the priority road. |
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Crowded Intersections
If an intersection is blocked with other cars, you do not advance into the intersection. If you can't move, you give other cars right-of-way even if they would normally have to yield to you.
Yeah right. If you've ever driven in France, you know this is one law NO ONE follows. If you stop before a cluttered intersection, the people behind you will be quite annoyed and are likely to honk at you or just drive around you. But for the driving test, this is the rule. |
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Special Lanes
| If you need to cross a special lane -- like a bike lane or a bus lane -- to make a turn, you must yield to that lane. You may cross the lane after yielding to anyone in it, but you cannot move into the lane, turn on your turn signal, then turn. The bikes or the buses own that lane and you can never drive in it. By the same token, those users must follow the traffic rules like everyone else. If they have a red light, they have to stop, etc. |
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Jeff Steiner's Americans in France.