Note on European Driving

With a commute of about 30 minutes each day and after trekking all over Normandy today, I've gotten a good taste of the French country roads. The scenery is great, reminds me of the rolling Pennsylvania hills with fields of corn and grain sprawling on their sides. The government is very restrictive on building permits, so there are long stretches of narrow, twisting roads between houses compacted into small towns.

There are a few interesting wrinkles about driving in France. The hardest one to get used to is that the road to the right has the right-of-way by default. That is, unless there is a stop or yield sign for a street coming from your right, you must yield to that driver, even if your street is straight and their street comes in at a right angle. I’ve been watching for this, but it is hard to catch on to. While driving through the tiny streets of Bayeux today, I stopped as the street I was on T’d into another. A car coming from my left stopped and a motorcycle that had been following me went around me on the left and made a right turn in front of me. As he was doing this, it hit me that I had the right-of-way and hit the accelerator to make the right turn. This seems counterintuitive, but I think the rule is to slow traffic flow without adding more traffic lights. Since the driver on the straight road yields and the driver negotiating the right turn slows for the turn, the effect is overall lower speeds for both drivers.

One thing I enjoy are the numerous roundabouts, a genius traffic control device that allows just enough decision making to the drivers, requires zero maintenance, and minimizes the chances of that deadliest of crashes the frontal to side impact. And you get to act like your cornering in a Grand Prix as you negotiate the circle. I love it! Underutilized in the US, although the high traffic flow in America could make roundabouts chaotic.

Speed limits seem to be set higher here, topping out at 130 kph (about 80 mph) on the highway, but overall seem to be higher even in the lower speed zone than what would be set in the US. I think the implementation of the periodic radar ticketing zones may have something to do with this. Be aware of what the local drivers are doing around you. My buddy TomTom beeps shrilly when a radar is approaching, but I’ve tried to stay with the flow of traffic as there are times when I am upon when quickly. The locals seem well aware of where they are located and slow accordingly.
Overall the roads demand more of car and driver than in the US. Higher speeds, tighter corners, narrower lanes, scenic landscape all contribute to a more engaged driver. Add to that the prevalence of manuals, and driving in France is much more refreshing than in the US. Driving for hours does not induce zzz’s since you are constantly reacting to something. Insider tip: the design standards for brakes in Europe are higher than the US. Since they drive more aggressively, Europeans prefer more aggressive brakes, and are willing to accept higher levels of noise (that screech when you come to a stop). This leads to several design differences: the brake pads are “stickier”, they grab the brake rotor quicker making the brakes more responsive; the brake booster (provides additional force when you press on the brake pedal so that you don’t need to be a behemoth to stop the car) kicks in a higher force when you first step on the pedal improving responsiveness (in the US the booster applies the same force at any point in the pedal travel); and the brakes are sized larger due to the typically higher speeds.

I like driving here, but honestly if I didn't have a GPS I would have trouble going anywhere. To get to any highway it seems that there is always a maze of narrow roads snaking through roundabouts before the entrance ramp. Without the GPS it would be hopeless. But overall the TomTom has performed well. I pushed it in Normandy today, there were a few small towns and museums that weren’t in its memory. But I could always find a nearby town to enter in the GPS and then use the street signs to travel the last few miles. I would not recommend traveling here without one. It found me a McDonald’s with WiFi today also (I’m already tired of dining for hours in French restaurants, I just want to eat and leave already!). By the way, I’m a fan of international McDonald’s, they have better menus than in the US (more options for in place of fries, like fruits, salads, apples, etc), and the employees actually hustle.