An Introduction To Driving In France

Never fail to take with you necessary papers when you plan to take a drive on the roads of France. This is because the French police may interrupt your path any time. It is the duty of the police to conduct regular checks in this matter to confirm that everything is going on lawfully regarding driving.

An official identity card, papers confirming car ownership, insurance documents and driving license are the documents which should be produced to the police if asked to during driving in France. Car crimes in France is a growing menace and hence the periodical checks.

Passport or a national card may be shown as the proof of identity. A period of one year from your entry into the country is the validity period for the foreign driving licenses which are also accepted. Grey card or ‘cart gris’ and the green card or ‘cart vert’ are the documents supporting car ownership and insurance respectively.

If you own a used car then make sure to collect the related documents from the previous owner because police has every right to levy fine on you when you are caught driving in France without the car ownership documents.

Make sure that you have the photocopies of these documents related to your car and do not leave back these papers in your car as car crimes are on the rise in France and you should not be a victim either to the theft or to the checks by the police of France.

Driving in France can be a thoroughly pleasant experience provided you to remember you’re in a foreign country and they do things differently in France. For instance, turning right at a red light in France is forbidden whereas in the US it’s fine.

Driving awareness is essential in France in the sense that drivers from your right are given more importance. They do not consider the sizes of two roads and T junctions too. To slow down the speed is the key word for the drivers and hence they try to make smaller paths into busy vehicle-laden roads. Of course prime concern is given to the one already on the circle in the case of traffic circles.

The standard limit while driving through built up areas in France is 50km p/h. When you are on the open roads of France you have to slow down to 50km p/h when you see a white sign with red borders showing the name of a place in black, this indicates that you’re getting into a built up area. You can resume higher speed driving when you see the same sign with a red diagonal line through it which means you’re leaving the built up area.

Auto routes in France can be passed through at a speed limit of 130km p/h. These are the largest motorways in France. Dual carriageways can go at a speed of 110km p/h. These speed limits are regrettably not displayed on the traffic boards in France and it is compulsory that you know them once you are in France and driving.

Driving in France shares alot in common with other parts of continental Europe. If you wish to do your travelling without any worries then have a look at French high speed TGV trains.

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