My Fench mini tour

Had a little excursion to France last week... very enjoyable it was too!

I found the roads were superb and reasonably traffic free, the drivers to be
very considerate and non-aggressive and despite making the odd error in a
couple of town centres the French drivers seemed to cut you some slack, oh
and it was real weird not having any tailgaters[1] for a few days. they just
didn't seem to do it.

Probably the most relaxing few days I have had on the roads in thirty years
of motoring, despite getting used to driving on the other side and learning
a few new rules.

Did I just get lucky or is it generally that way?

David

[1] Except round Paris.

 

you were probably lucky about the lack of tailgaters. tailgating is pretty
normal, and for the most part i would say if you're being tailgated move
back to the inside lane you irritating ****.

 

Oh, and they also have single carriageways over there too.

David

 

If you keep away from Paris, stay way from the Mediterranean and other
obvious grockle spots and travel when it isn't a school holiday.

I reckon this is mainly a result of a less densely populated country
with a more comprehensive and ever expanding motorway network. You can
get caught in a horrendous traffic when something goes awry, but over
four years of making at least 5 return trips of 450 miles each way on
French roads, and twenty before that with at least one usually even
longer trip a year I can count the number of times I have been stuck in
a UK type motorway jam, or had to come off a closed autoroute, on the
fingers of one hand.

As to tailgating, it has to be said that lane-hogging is less common in
my experience. There is a lot of two lane autoroute, and even the real
press on types tend to get back in the inside lane whenever possible.
The provision of a crawler lane on anything resembling a steep hill
also helps. The result being though, that if you do spend more time than
is absolutely necessary in the outside lane, you may find yourself being
tailgated, flashed and honked at by someone in a hurry. Having said
that, because of the traffic free conditions it is pretty obvious that a
lot of cars have cruise control engaged. People don't seem to mind
passing taking a fair while, and don't hurry themselves to pass you. It
is important, however, to check for the occasional big Merc or BMW
closing fast. Personally I prefer to override the cruise control and
squirt past a bit faster unless a mirror check has confirmed a long
empty straight behind me.




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+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Ah, if you mean NSL single carriageway roads, then whilst they don't
exactly tailgate they do have a habit of following pretty closely then
blasting past at the first opportunity, only to proceed no more than
5KPH quicker than you are. In my experience, the adherence to speed
limits out of town is far greater than in the UK. You do see the a few
vehicles (often bikes) really pressing on, but I would say not as often
as you do here (as long as you steer clear of UKRM French run
itineraries at least).

--

+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Generally, I've found the standard of driving in France to be pretty
good. This is perhaps because the French drive a bit more like me -
faster, and with an intention to 'make progress'.

However, I have witnessed a lot more tailgating than I usually see in
the UK. This is just the standard technque to get the guy in front to
move over. It's never happened to me, cos I'm either going fast
enough, or I've moved over, so it doesn't bother me.

 

I quite like the idea of leaving your left indicator on, to show you
want to get past or are trying to overtake the thing in front,
depending on your POV.

 

Ah I tend to move back to the inside lane sharpish so don't experience much
in the way of tailgating on multi-lane roads.

I didn't really explain myself very well, what I meant was tailgaiting in
towns, I find that if you are travelling around 30-35mph in a 30 limit in
the UK there is always someone up you arse, but in France I generally found
that the car behind was a good distance back.

David

 

or that you are *in the process of* overtaking.

 

-snip tale-

I go there 5 or 6 times a year and my experience is similar to yours,
although I've noticed lately that there are more people hogging the
middle/outside lanes and there are now tailgaters. Still a much nicer
place to ride than here.

 

I think it was Champ who pointed out, quite perceptively, that France has
this 'tradition' of two wheels; that every brat is on a 'Solex' [1] at the
age of fourteen and whilst few keep it up (motorcycling still being very
much a 'minority' activity), they keep the fond memories of two wheels when
they move onto four, and are thus somewhat more 'bike-aware' than the
Brits.

Well, quite. 'la France n'est pas Paris, mais Paris c'est bien la France'.

Y.

[1] http://www.bullnet.co.uk/shops/test/velosole.htm