Speed limits

Motorways 80mph/130kph
Main roads 56mph/90kph
Towns 30mph/50kph
Built up areas 19mph/30kph

Fixed speed cameras in France have a sign a couple of hundred meters before the camera and the speed limit sign as well.

On motorways you can tell where the cameras are positioned by looking on a route planning site like Mappy which will say which kilometre the camera is positioned at and the motorways are marked at every 100 meters.

Recently the use of handheld radar guns has increased dramatically and the Gendarmes are very adept at hiding in places where they cannot be seen until too late.

The fines are usually 90 Euros for speeding but if you are doing more than double the speed limit your licence could be taken from you immediately

Also it is worth noting that when you enter some villages there are no speed limit signs, but the village name sign in this case is the speed limit sign - so when you enter villages without speed limit signs try and stick to 30 mph

Drink driving

Over the past few years the French authorities have cracked down on drink driving in a big attempt to reduce the number of fatal and non-fatal accidents caused by it. It is now quite common to be stopped and breath tested at anytime of the day. Early and late afternoon are favourite times for roadside testing and we have seen evenings where the Gendarmes will take over a roundabout and stop every vehicle as they approach from all directions. Also the limit is less than in the UK

Stop signs

Treat a stop sign as an order even if you can see that it is perfectly clear and safe to just pull out. The Gendarmes are particularly hot on this and expect you to be stationary for three seconds

Roundabouts

Roundabouts were only introduced in France about twenty years ago so a lot of drivers passed their tests without ever learning how to use one. If you ask six people over the age of forty in France how to use a roundabout you will get six different answers. You will often see people going all the way round the outside of roundabouts - this is because they are scared they will get trapped in the middle and not be able to get off. Be careful on roundabouts and watch out for the cars you think are going to turn off that suddenly continue on round. Also the french have this wonderful idea that a zebra crossing at the exit from a roundabout is an ideal place for people to cross safely!

Motorways

French motorways are much less congested than UK motorways (except round major towns and some Saturdays in August) Though you have to pay to use most French motorways they are a great means to getting places quickly. Every few miles there is an Aire (a layby with parking facilities and toilets) and about every fifty miles a service station for fuel and food.

Priority to the right

This is a french peculiarity and can be very confusing. Basically, at certain junctions you have to give way to anything that is coming from your right. This usually happens on un-marked junctions.

Motorbikes, mopeds and voitures sans permis

From the age of fourteen french youngsters can ride mopeds. They have to take a test and wear a helmet but as soon as they pass the test they immediately forget all they have learnt and quite often balance the helmet on top of their heads. Just watch out for youngsters on mopeds.

Motorbikes are usually much more sensibly ridden and if you move over to let them by the rider will signal his thanks by sticking out his right leg.

Voitures sans permis (Cars without licences) are yet another french peculiarity. These are very small cars with a very small engine which will carry two people who do not need a licence to drive it. As they are so small it is obvious that most people who drive them are very large! They also need to drive in the middle of the road being such large vehicles and travel very slowly.