h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

First important point to remember whilst driving in France is; A flash of the headlights does NOT mean "After you", it means "Get out of the way, I'm coming through"
The French attitude to overtaking is simple, if they can't see anything coming the other way, it must be safe to overtake. It doesn't matter that the reason is a blind bend or brow !
Courtesy is another problem, they don't seem to understand why anyone would possibly let them out from a side junction, it just doesn't compute1

French drivers have two speeds; stupidly slow or ludicrously fast. They also tend to drive like people who have no fear. I also hate French roadsigns, as they never actually point to the right road

BTW; sometimes people on the right have the priority

Hi Strawberry

I was having a look at who was online, and I noticed your name, its cute!

I've only been here 4 weeks, so I don't know a lot, but I do know that it is a lot easier for people to say hi when you have written an introduction. Even if its just your name! It gives people something to reply too.

Have fun

Take the unpredictable way portuguese people drive and combine it with the speed at which german people drive. What you get is how french people drive...

True. So true

"BTW; sometimes people on the right have the priority "

Yeah, it used always to be "priorité à droite" i.e. give way to vehicles coming from your right; even when you were on a Route Nationale doing a fair lick and a farmer was turning out of a cart track with an overloaded hay trailer hitched to his tractor. Autoroutes have warning signs on slip roads warning that joining traffic does not have right of way. Normally this is accepted but watch out for the second or third car in a row of joining traffic - they seem to regard the sign as applying only to the first car. R.N.s are now being treated with greater respect, even when the give way signs are absent, but don't bank on it.
**AND**
In towns and cities (particularly Paris - ptui, sorry) watch out for stuff from your right - if you look at the driver you'll see his left ear, or more likely the back of his head, as he looks where he is going; irrespective of the fact that you are a mere five yards away. His engine will be revving at 10,000 r.p.m. so he'll soon be out of your way, oblivious of the 2,000 miles he's just taken off your tyres' life.

if european driving habits are viewed as a spectrum from north to south with sweden being the most sane and italy & greece the least, france is just about the middle ground you could expect.

a french custom i have always found curious regards one-way streets. whereas in italy these are completely disregarded (i once counted from a café window in rome: the number of cars in each direction was almost exactly equal) the french at least make the pretense of POINTING their car the right way; wrong-way driving is done almost exclusively in reverse. not to say this can't be taken to amazing extremes: i once saw a lady reverse about 100 metres down a busy thoroughfare to get to the crossing she needed; also a one-way street up which she headed...in reverse. at the next intersection she started a similar manoeuvre, but just to get headed where she wanted the right way (on n'est comme même pas des sauvages!)

this said, even if the french don't drive as well as they think, they generally are more skilled, if less prudent, than in my native california, where one can get a driving license free in cornflakes boxes.

please let it be known that i am no french basher: i love france and the french and would live nowhere else.

In an often overlooked chapter of the bible, eveything is explained.
When God was busy creating, the first country he made was France. He had plenty of eveything at that point: sandy beaches, surfing beaches, sunshine, mountains .... He threw the lot at France. Later on he slightly regretted having been so generous because there was not much left for some countries. He also worried that his beautiful country, being an irresistible attraction, would be overwhelmed and ruined.
Being God, however, he soon found a solution.
He populated the country with French people.

Yup, that would explain an awful lot Plaguesville!