Priority rules in France

Priority at intersections

The rules regarding priorities at intersections are defined in Chapter 5 of France's Highway Code (Code de la Route): Intersections et priorité de passage (Intersections and Right of Way).

On the French road network, there are five different types of priority:

• Priority to the right
• Stop
• Yield/Give way
• Imminent priority
• Roads that have priority status

Refusing to give right of way is, by default, total responsibility of the driver who has not respected priority laws.

However, there are circumstances where shared responsibility or total responsibility on the other party can lie:

• Cases of shared responsibility :
  • excessive speed approaching the junction by the person who has right of way
  • if the vehicle that has right of way does not have lights switched on;
  • if the person who has right of way is driving on the left-hand side of the road (except for on a one-way street).

In these different cases, the responsibility of the person who has right of way is around one third.

• Cases of total responsibility :
  • When, at the time of entering the junction from a non-priority road, there was no vehicle present in the driver's field of vision;
  • When the junction is completely clear and the person who has right of way is driving at double the authorised speed;

• In the case of abandoning right of way: when the person who has right of way stops falsely, they remain responsible if they start to move off again in an untimely manner.

Priority to the right (La priorité à droite)

When approaching an intersection with no prior indication of which road has right of way, traffic approaching from the right has priority. Therefore, drivers must yield to any vehicle entering a road from their right. The triangular sign containing a black cross (sign AB1 or the "Cross of Saint André") does not directly translate to "priority to the right" but indicates "danger, intersection where priority to the right is applicable".

Accident after refusal of priority to the right in Gif-sur-Yvette, France.

Article R.415-5 of the French Highway Code (Code de la Route) defines refusal of priority to the right in further detail. When two drivers approach an intersection from different roads, the driver approaching from the left must give way to the other driver. In the case of an accident, the person with priority is assumed to have correctly exercised their right of way.

Stop

STOP

Arriving at a junction with the presence of a red octagonal sign reading STOP with a wide continuous white line painted on the ground across the lane, the driver must stop before said white line and yield to all vehicles before driving on.

A vehicle is considered to have stopped (and therefore the stop sign is considered noticed) when its wheels are immobilised. There is no minimum time required for a vehicle to stop.

Yield/Give Way (Cédez-le-passage)

French yield/give way sign

Yield/Give way (FR: cédez-le-passage) is symbolised by a triangular sign which points downwards with a rectangular sign beneath stating "cédez le passage". A wide dashed line is painted on the ground across the road. The driver must slow down and prepare to stop in order to not interrupt the flow of traffic on the road they are joining.

Imminent priority (La priorité ponctuelle)

Sign indicating priority

Imminent priority is indicated by a triangular sign (warning sign), which warns the driver that they will have right of way at the next junction only. Therefore, the driver will be able to pass through with caution. Two lines are present on the sign; one vertical and thick representing the road on which the driver is situated, the other thin and horizontal, representing the road which does not have right of way.

Priority roads (Routes prioritaires)

Three further signs indicate if a driver is on a priority road or not.

Priority roads are indicated by the presence of a yellow, lozenge-shaped sign which has a white border. The sign is repeated every five kilometres. Non-priority roads which join priority roads have either a stop or yield sign at the joining intersection. When priority ends, the same sign appears with a black line striking through diagonally. This is seen, for example, when the road crosses a road with a higher volume of traffic.

Special intersections

Traffic-light-controlled intersections

A traffic-light-controlled intersection is an intersection at which traffic is regulated by the presence of traffic lights. When approaching a traffic-light-controlled intersection, the driver must respect the light displayed:

• Green: the driver can go. However, if the driver changes direction, priority is granted to pedestrians and cyclists crossing the adjoining road.
• Amber flashing below or amber flashing arrow: the driver can treat this as a green light but does not have right of way (such lights are installed in complex junctions).
• Solid amber: the driver must stop unless they do not have enough distance to stop as the light is changing, or if they feel that the cars behind will not have adequate distance to stop safely. In France, accelerating through a solid amber light is illegal.
• Red: the driver is obligated to stop (see: level crossings).

Priority rules apply to vehicles passing through a green light.

A traffic light may be accompanied by a yield/give way ("cédez-le-passage") or yellow lozenge priority sign which is applicable if the light is not working, or if it is flashing amber.

Roundabouts

In France, there are two types of roundabouts: rond-points (roundabouts) and carrefours giratoires (circular junctions).

They are similar in appearance and both serve to aid drivers change direction and join other roads. The driver travels around the roundabout in an anti-clockwise fashion.

On a carrefour giratoire, drivers already on the roundabout have priority. Therefore, there are yield/give way signs at the entrances to the roundabout. Priority to the left was originally not well known by French drivers, who nicknamed such roundabouts as "English roundabouts".

On a rond-point, the rule of priority to the right is applied. The people entering the roundabout have right of way. The most famous and impressive example of this is Place de l'Etoile, around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

Cycle lanes

Moreover, articles R415-3 and R415-4 of the Code de la Route indicate that drivers must yield to bicycles and mopeds driving both ways in cycle lanes which cross the path of the road that the driver wishes to join.

Interchange

Interchanges are built to link two roads with high volumes of fast-moving and dense traffic (for example, expressways and motorways). Vehicles entering the interchange drive into a lane which borders the adjoining road for a certain distance (a slip road or acceleration lane), which allows the driver to match the speed of the vehicles on the road they are joining. Drivers are required to join the road using the yield/right-of-way (cédez-le-passage) rule.

Private roads

Furthermore, article R.415-9 of the Code de la Route obliges that vehicles may not block access to any private road. Private roads are often marked by a concrete trough or a lowered pavement/sidewalk leading to an unmade track or a driveway.

Bicycles

Bicycles and motorcycles are considered vehicles and thus the same priority rules apply to them.

Pedestrians

As road users, pedestrians are often required to cross other vehicles. Pedestrians can only walk on the pavement/side walk outside of towns and cities when there is no shoulder, and if the road is neither a motorway nor a limited access highway. In this case, pedestrians must respect the same priority rules as other vehicles. Pedestrians do, however, need to cross the road and must observe certain safety rules:

• No crossing if there is a red pedestrian light
• Pedestrians must use designated pedestrian crossings if they are less than 50 metres from the person.
• Pedestrians must cross at a perpendicular angle from the road. This is to reduce crossing time, ensuring it is as quick as possible as pedestrians are particularly vulnerable when on the road.
• Pedestrians must ensure that there is no risk of collision with other vehicles whilst crossing, by observing two principle rules:
  1. Distance of vehicles from pedestrians must be sufficient to stop safely, relative to their speed, to allow the pedestrian to cross.
  2. Visibility of vehicles must be sufficient, so that the first rule can be observed.

Due to their vulnerability, the Code de la Route states that pedestrians must be extremely well-protected from other road users. The law is clear and simple, stating that when crossing the road, pedestrians have absolute priority as long as they are respecting rules laid out in the Code de la Route (i.e. traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, etc.). For other vehicles, the first phrase of Article R415-11 of the Code de la Route states clearly: "All drivers must give way, and stop if necessary, to pedestrians who have legally stepped onto the road or who show intention to do so."

See also

Internal links

• Code de la route (French) | Priority to the Right | Level crossing | Traffic light

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