Things I'll Miss About France... vol. 1

Driving in France:

1) Stay to the right. When driving on the highway in the US, I tend to put myself in the left-most lane and go like heck... which usually lasts thirty seconds before I run up against some bobo noodling along at 62mph on a 65mph speedway in the left-most lane. This does not happen in France. In the first instance, I and all drivers are expected to remain in the right-most lane. If you are in the middle (of three) lanes, it's only because you are passing someone going slower than you in the right-most lane. While out of the right-most lane, therefore, you will have your blinker on, indicating that you are passing. Even if one suspects they will pass every car ahead of them for the next 20km, one returns to the right-lane in between passing.

And what about the left-most lane (on a three-lane highway)? Again, it is well understood that only BMW 700-series and high-end Mercedes doing over 150mph will enter that lane. If I, with my stodgy Citroen C5, wander that far to the left to pass a passer, for example, it's no problem... but I am not to be surprised when a $65,000 sedan comes flying up behind me, flashing their high-beams and reminding me to stay to the right.

2) Identify the newcomers. Any driver who has held their license for less than two years must affix a sign to the back of their car... literally, a 'scarlet letter'... a capital A in bold red, indicating that they are an apprentice. Mind you, in order to even apply for your driver's license in France, you must be eighteen, and complete something close to 120 classroom hours, and score 95% or better on an hour-long exam. It is not easy to get a license. And once you do, you will be publicly identified as a newbie for two years.

(Having already earned my driver's license) this seems like an excellent system to me. If you come up on someone driving excessively cautiously, and you see the "A", you cut them some slack. If a cop comes up on some and sees them breaking the law, if there's an "A" on the car, their subject to bigger fines and loss of their license.

3) Traffic circles and round-abouts. While they do have traffic lights in France, they're only used at small intersections in the heart of town. Any time three or more truly busy or high-volume streets intersect, they install a round-about. Although initially intimidating (not as bad as some of the really big, multi-lane jobs in London or Paris), I've come to appreciate the fact that I rarely have to stop on my way home... I slow down a bit, and wait for my chance to "jump on the merry-go-round", but it's slow, on, circle, off and go. Ironically, in my neighborhood back home, traffic circles are designed to slow traffic. Over here, they keep things moving.

On the other hand...
1) No shoulders on most of the roads.

2) 50cc scooters... and cars share the road, despite not being able to achieve the speed limit.

3) Well-organized speed traps. There are two kinds of radar-based speed traps: automated installations which measure your speed, and if you're in violation, snap a photo and mail the ticket to your house. Ironically, these installations are clearly marked by large signs announcing their presence about 100 meters ahead of time. At first, this seemed strange -- kind of undermines the ability to catch speeders, no? It's begun to make sense though, as I've noticed that I (as does everyone) automatically slow down when I see these big signs. The point is not to send out dozens of tickets, but rather, to get folks to slow down.

The other kind of speed trap, though, does hand out dozens of tickets. A platoon of cops stake out a stretch of road. One guy, armed with a radar gun stands on the shoulder, far away from the cop cars, so he's very hard to see. He pings the cars as they approach him, and shouts over his shoulder to his comrades, "Take this one... leave this one... take this one." And here's the thing: they stop everyone who is speeding. They'll wave cars over to the side of the road and queue them up, waiting for the cops writing the tickets to get to them. I've seen (and waited in) a line of twelve cars idling at the side of the road, waiting for the cops to get to me and write the ticket. This is a completely different approach than the loan Highway Patrol man in a Ford Crown Victoria, parking along the median and picking off one speeder at a time. So many folks are speeding, it often seems like a lottery as to which motorist the cop will stop. Not in France: if you're speeding, and the cops are watching, you get nailed.