Monday 8 March 2010

Driving in France – watch out for the priorité à droite !


When driving in France you need to be aware of the out-of-date but still existing rule: the priority to the right (priorité à droite).

If you are driving along a road in France, anyone joining from your right-hand side can have priority over the road on which you are driving. To find out if a road is “priorité à droite”, look at the road signs and road markings. They are the only clues!

If a side road joining another road has no stop sign, white line or broken white line, then you must give way to the traffic coming from your right.

This rule does not apply just in villages. It also applies in towns and cities. So it is best to approach junctions with caution!

In our village in Brittany, there are two ‘give way to the right’ junctions. The third one has recently been replaced by a roundabout making the junction a lot safer! See the photo on the right, it is a typical unsafe junction!

We always warn the guests staying in our gîte in Brittany about this rule. They are always surprised about it!

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