Jeff Steiner's Americans in France.
Resource for people that would like to live or travel in France.

Americans in France

Guide Home

About the Exam

Car

Driver

Driving Terms

Exams

Hints

License

Markings

Passing

Parking Related

Right of Way

Roads & Streets

Roundabouts

Signalization

Speed

Special Conditions

Traffic Lights

Vehicle Code

Narrative

SignalizationSign Posts

In General

Sometimes whether or not two signs are on the same sign pole changes their meaning. This does sound annoying, but it's not as bad as it sounds. Below are two special cases where the sharing of sign poles is important.

Entering Towns ("Agglomerations")

If there are any other signs on the same sign post as the town entrance sign, it means they apply to the whole town. For example, a speed limit sign on the same pole changes the town's default speed limit. If a priority road doesn't lose it's priority, there will a priority road sign with the town entrance sign.

Leaving a town cancels whatever restrictions were posted on the entrance sign. This is also discussed in the RULES #2 section.

Categories

Category signs are the white rectangular signs placed below another sign to make the sign above apply only to certain categories of vehicles. That's very simple when there's only one sign above, but what if there are two? The category sign applies only to the sign directly above it, whether or not there are other signs on the same pole.
No parking for trucks, but the speed limit is 50 km/hr for everyone. The truck category sign applies only to the sign directly above it. There will be a crosswalk in 500 m, but the traffic light will occur in the normal distance (50 m in the city, 150 m in the country). The "500 m" sign applies only to the sign directly above it.

Side Of The Road

Sometimes signs that say different things can be posted on each side of the road. In general, you follow the sign on the right side of the road, especially for divided lanes. This is true for all signals, both signs and lights.
Lane A follows light 1 and lane B follows light 2. It's easy if both lights are green at the same time, but if you approach the intersection in lane B and see one light red and the other green, you need to know to follow the one on the right. Lane C follows light 3 and lanes D & E follow lights 4 & 5, which should be the same. Lane F follows sign 6 and must go straight. Lane G follows sign 7 and must turn right. Imagine approaching the intersection in lane G and seeing both sign 6 and sign 7. Remember to follow the one on the right side of your lane.

Back