What tourists need to know before driving in France

let's go france is a beautiful country and the top tourist destination in the world for a reason one of the best ways to see it is to drive and see all the beautiful landscapes france has to offer and upon first glance driving in france might look a lot like what you're used to at home if you drive on the right we drive on the right here in france there are makes and models of cars that you're used to and there's a beautifully well-connected network of roads but upon closer inspection driving in france might be a little different than what you're used to and there are some things you need to be aware of to drive confidently on the road we're going to get right into them in this video so let's get on the road [Music] hey everyone welcome back to we in france i am the american behind the living abroad lifestyle blog we in france my name is diane happy to have you here if you're into this sort of content give me a like hit subscribe but we'll get right into today's video something i want to mention before we start is this is just a quick overview of some things you need to know about driving in france it is by no means all-inclusive always be up to date with the road regulations and the rules of the road before you get behind the wheel but with that we're gonna get right into it okay now in france when you get behind the wheel you need a few things with you in your car obviously a valid license if you're a foreigner your passport proof of insurance and a few other things let's start with the basics about who can drive in france the national driving age is 18 years old but be aware that many car rental companies may require you to be 21 or even 25 years old so check that before you book european union and eea driver's licenses are valid in france so your national license is all you need for those of you who are coming from the rest of the world you can drive as well short-term visitors who are in france for up to 90 days from non-eu countries such as the usa australia and canada can legally drive in france with your national license but it is recommended that you have an international driving permit idp with a translation of your license before coming to france now in reality i've never been asked for this but check with your car rental company before coming to france just in case especially if you'll be crossing the border into other neighboring countries where it might be needed so it's quite common especially in older town centers to see narrow streets like this with cobblestones that really are only passable in one direction so keep your eyes peeled for narrow streets like this and be ready for them cars tend to be a little smaller than what we'd see on the road in the usa gas is expensive and beyond that parallel parking both on the left and the right is quite common as you see here so well you do see suburbans and other large suvs they're not super common on narrow streets like these having a small car comes in handy and it leads me into my next point it also comes in handy when you enter a french parking garage they might be narrower than what you're used to one quick thing if you choose to park above ground in a town center parking is rarely free so instead of each space having its individual meter look to your left or right for a vertical tower like this marked with a p where you can easily pay with coins or buy card [Music] we're here in a parking garage it's underground and you might notice it's a little narrower than what you're used to let me show you what it looks like and it's nothing to be afraid of it's just something to note when you rent a car if you're not used to narrower spaces maybe you're a nervous driver keep that in mind when you choose the size of your rental car because the spaces can be tight and the little tunnels and ramps to get in and out might be a tight squeeze there are all types of scuffs as you can see after doing just a little bit of driving you'll notice that france has traffic circles all over the place or jose they're called while france does have intersections with traffic lights you'll just as commonly see traffic circles that keep the cars flowing in all directions and the traffic always flows counterclockwise so when you enter a traffic circle be sure to yield and look left and there are usually between three to five entrances and exits they range from small circles that look like little mini ones and small towns all the way up to one of the most notable and crazy in france that circles around the place de la concorde in paris be sure to never stop when in a traffic circle use your signal so cars around you know what you're doing and if you miss your turn you can always circle around again if you're ever unsure about what street you're on look up because street signs can commonly be found on sides of buildings as you see here also you will need a triangle and a yellow vest which is folded up in this bag for any car trouble or emergencies while you're on the road i'll put a picture of what these look like unfolded up here you might be familiar with the yellow vest in french it's called agile june and you might be familiar with them because of the protesters by the same name it was their uniform of choice but at its origin the yellow vest is used for emergencies on the road or car trouble if you need to pull over and get emergency help put on your yellow vest put up your traffic triangle and await emergency services you'll also notice along the auto route every two kilometers or so there's an sos emergency phone booth uh in my area at least it's orange and you can await emergency services after calling them there if you don't have any cell service otherwise hit one one two on your phone and that will connect you with emergency services france's toll road system is called the auto route or on jose they are on the expensive side but you get a lot of bang for your buck you get beautifully paved roads no potholes you get emergency services and you get rest stops like the one i am at now they have a lot of services including gas wi-fi a store bathrooms picnic area and other things one thing to be aware of while it's convenient to stop for gas on the auto route it's just right off the side of the road it is about five percent more expensive than what you'd find at a supermarket but it is convenient so feel free to get gas to run into the little mini mart and get something to eat use the bathroom grab coffee we're gonna head in now i'm and i'm gonna show you what you can find there in addition to all types of drinks and snacks for your road trip you can also use the bathroom grab a coffee from one of the machines or have a sit-down meal oh and don't forget some souvenirs when driving on the auto route you'll come across toll plazas where you can pay by card or with cash here's what they look like also there are no right turns on red depending on what state you come from my home state of new jersey you can make a right turn on red in france don't do that anywhere you will get pulled over if you're caught something else to be aware of when you're driving in france is the position of the traffic lights at intersections so as you can see to demonstrate my point when cars stop at intersections in france they stop at the level of the traffic lights they don't go past them because unlike many places in the u.s there are no traffic lights hanging from a wire in the center of the intersection well above your head if you go ahead of the traffic lights in france you won't see them when they change because they'll be behind you here's another example of an intersection and if you look closely there are no traffic lights hanging above the center of the intersection your signal is actually that signal right there to the right of where the car is going to stop next to the bike area if you advance too far forward your traffic light is going to be behind you and you won't know when it changes so now i'm approaching something i want to show you and if you listen to anything i say in the video just one thing this is what you need to be listening to this is something that trips up a lot of foreign drivers in france and i'm going to show you exactly what i mean it's called priority advat priority to the right and it's the biggest cause of accidents or near accidents among foreigners in france because it doesn't seem logical let me show you so what we have here is a street this is a one-way street cars are coming toward the camera and then let me show you as we turn to the left the street continues this way but as you see there's a street that intersects it perpendicularly and if you look closely there's no stop sign here logically for me i would think that the car coming straight continuing straight would have the right of way but not so in france what it actually means is that the car coming straight needs to yield to the person intersecting the street perpendicularly so you need to watch out for that because even in larger towns it's not just something that happens in rural france priority to the right is in effect unless you see signage that indicates otherwise so if you don't see a stop sign when a street is intersecting you from the right slow down use caution and always take a look before you proceed at full speed if you plan on doing any driving after consuming alcohol it's recommended that you have a disposable breathalyzer in your car but there's no penalty for not having one keep in mind the legal limit in france might be lower than what you're used to in your home country so be safe about it and you could pick one up like i did earlier at the rest stop on the auto route also gas stations pharmacies and grocery stores have them available mine was 2 euros and 40 cents hey everyone so i am back home now there is no driving in my future this evening and i thought i would do a test to show you how much wine will actually affect a breathalyzer test so this is what i bought at the little mini mart at the rest stop this is my glass of wine a nice summary a jose piscine it's rose wine sanso i believe with ice cubes it's a reasonably large pour there are a lot of ice cubes in here so it's you know a decent amount of wine i'm going to drink it now while i put away my equipment and then i'm going to come back blow into this let's see if after about 45 minutes if this one glass of wine would make me too impaired to drive so cheers all right i have finished my glass of wine it's about 40 minutes later uh generally the alcohol content in the blood takes about a full hour to be at its highest level i've taken my test out of its packaging this is what it looks like my crack pipe just kidding but it's a little tube here and i need to press the ends to puncture the aluminum first so when i blow into it and if i am too impaired to drive the little crystals if you look closely there we go they will turn green if i'm over the limit and you'll see the little line there so let me let me go ahead and do this i blew as hard as i could and i have to say i don't feel impaired at all i'm a little confused it looks like this is telling me i'm over the limit uh the little indicator here that i don't know if you could see too well is red and they seem to be green crystals so according to this thing i am over the limit i don't feel impaired at all again i would not drive with any alcohol in my system but even just one glass of wine again i didn't eat anything uh would have you over the limit so what do we learn from this if you have anything to drink it's best to play it safe and not to drive when it's not raining the speed limit on the auto route is kilometers per hour and it goes down to 110 when it's raining something to be aware of are speed cameras and police tend to patrol the roads less often in france than what i was used to in the usa but speed cameras or legradar or francaise are in full force on toll roads and smaller roads alike they'll automatically take a photo of your car's license plate and follow that up with a fine in the mail and yes that goes for you even if you rent a car they'll still deliver your fine by mail abroad radar devices or gps's that alert you to the location of a speed camera are prohibited but in many cases keep your eyes open for a sign a few seconds before you reach the speed camera to let you know it's coming it looks like this so always keep an eye out and try to go the speed limit whenever possible otherwise you might get an ugly fine [Music] [Music] [Music] finally driving in france is nothing to worry about or to stress over if you come in prepared know the rules of the road and just take your time while keeping a cool head and besides the countryside is absolutely breathtaking [Music] okay everyone and finally if you've done any driving in france let me know down below in the comments if you found anything particularly difficult or easy if anything surprised you and what you'd like to see next time please if this video was interesting and you found it useful or helpful in any way give me a thumbs up subscribe and be sure to share it with a friend it really does help me grow my channel so see you right here back on we in france soon and salute

Channel: Oui In France

Views: 298,792

Keywords: oui in france, driving in france, tips for driving in france, france driving, driving in paris, can tourists drive in france, france travel, france tourism, travel in france, paris travel, renting a car in france, france rental cars, france driving tips, living in france, driving tips, france, toll roads in france, driving to france, french road signs, driving in france rules, driving in france laws, french breathalyser, driving holiday france, french road trip

Id: jn8ZncjrZ6Q

Length: 15min 8sec (908 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 02 2020