Bizarre driving?

[yello]

Yes I'm sure you are right and some can't be bothered. There's probably other reasons too. It's difficult to know as you only witness the result. But whatever the reasons, it's not unique to France and happens all over the world. The thing to do, as a cyclist or motorist, is to be prepared for it and not make assumptions.

If something is winding you up then back off. You're a danger to yourself and others if you drive angry. Dismiss driving you don't like with the your insult of choice but don't let it eat at you

 

[raindog]

OK, I have read the replies and whilst I agree with some statements, I will not change my view on French drivers or French driving.

Good for you, but you're wasting your time trying to convince people on here that driving standards in France are worse than the UK. I've tried it a couple of times and got slammed for my efforts. I was even called strange or odd (can't remember the exact word, but the thread's in this section somewhere) for pointing it out on one occasion.

 

[yello]

Weren't me that "slammed" you rd. I hope

Peoples opinions are often based on personal experience... and I hope I've never questioned those in anyone! I gave my opinions upstream (I will repeat one though 'French drivers follow too closely' ) but there's clearly good and bad everywhere.

But - if I had to nail myself to a yes or no answer - then I would say that overall and in general that UK driving standards are higher than in France.

 

[raindog]

Weren't me that "slammed" you rd. I hope

it certainly wasn't, yello me old mate

 

[cd365]

Dont Worry i had one today with a English driver and they are expected to know which lane is for straight on entering a duel carriageway in this case.I was in the middle of a sprint so sadly with the adrenaline a little bad word came out although a stopped myself before ending head .

It took me a couple of goes watching this to realise why the car driver was in the wrong!

 

[DooDah]

Yes I'm sure you are right and some can't be bothered. There's probably other reasons too. It's difficult to know as you only witness the result. But whatever the reasons, it's not unique to France and happens all over the world. The thing to do, as a cyclist or motorist, is to be prepared for it and not make assumptions

I agree, it may not be unique to France, and there are other reasons, like complete inconsideration to other road users. Like Raindog, I live in France, and have done so for over 10 years. I see this every day, and the lack of consideration towards other road users by the French drivers irritates me every day. That does not mean that I am putting myself in difficult or dangerous situations though, I am very calm and let it wash over me (normally!). The lack of indication at roundabouts is certainly to a mush higher degree than the UK, and most of it is down to laziness and not being considerate, it is a different mindset to us Brits, unfortunately.

 

[wait4me]

This is only from the viewpoint of someone who holidays in France regularly (with caravan and bike). I also find driving standards vary as much as over here. BUT one big difference I see every time is an almost total lack of any aggression towards other road users of whatever ilk.
I only wish UK drivers could be the same.

 

[yello]

I live in France

So do I.

I do believe our different experiences form our opinions. I've heard many many complaints from ex-pats here about all manner of things; driving, customer service, etc etc etc. I don't always share them but then I'm not them and I haven't (always) had the same experience. Often, I just see differences rather than anything I'd call plain wrong. I reckon you have to adapt to (or go crazy!) ... but that's not to say it doesn't annoy me sometimes!

 

[raindog]

This is only from the viewpoint of someone who holidays in France regularly (with caravan and bike). I also find driving standards vary as much as over here. BUT one big difference I see every time is an almost total lack of any aggression towards other road users of whatever ilk.

I've lived in France for 31 years, and last august I was the victim of road-rage that ended in car-contact and physical aggression. The gendarmes were involved, and I came out of it rather well all things considered, but it wasn't a pleasant experience.
This was my first personal experience of this kind of thing, but I see it on a fairly regular basis. Holidaying somewhere isn't the same as living permanently.

 

[Glow worm]

I think this thread goes to show there are ar$eholes everywhere unfortunately no matter which country you are in!

(I did used to like them yellow headlights the French used to have though. I remember my Dad painting the headlights of our Austin Maxi (shudder) yellow in about 1975 before heading off over there. The French have buggered up their numberplates nowadays as well I noticed recently- you can no longer tell which Department they're from so easily)

 

[gavroche]

Just for the record, the French population is near enough the same as in the UK but the country is twice the size of the UK, hence the feeling of being sparsely populated.

 

[cd365]

France has a population density of 110 people per sq km . This is just less than the EU average of 112 /km², and less than half the density of the UK (246 p/km²)

 

[DooDah]

Just for the record, the French population is near enough the same as in the UK but the country is twice the size of the UK, hence the feeling of being sparsely populated.

I agree, this is what I was getting at, and largely explains why there is less road rage evident, so it makes there driving skills and impatience even more bizarre. For the record Metropolitan France has a surface area of 551695km2 to that of 209,331km2 for mainland UK.