Never forget to take with you necessary documents when you decide to take a drive on the roads of France. This is because the French police may intercept your path any time. It is the responsibility of the police to conduct periodical checks in this matter to confirm that everything is going on legally regarding driving.
If police in France demand you to show the documents for verification while driving on the roads of France, you may show these documents : driving license, documents related to the ownership of the car you are driving, an official ID card and of course insurance documents. The police are strict due to the crime of car theft is on the rise in France.
Passport or a national card may be produced as the proof of identity. A period of one year from your entry into France 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 papers supporting car ownership and insurance respectively.
If you own a used car then make sure to collect the concerned documents from the previous owner as police has every right to impose fine on you if you are caught driving in France without the car ownership documents.
Always make photocopies of your car related documents and never leave your insurance and ownership proofs in the car. Car crime in France is rife and you don’t want to be a victim without the appropriate papers to produce to the police.
Always keep it in mind that you are driving in a foreign country and things are a little different in France. It is illegal to turn right at a red light in France where as in the US it is okay. Otherwise driving should be a pleasant experience in France.
Driving awareness is essential in France in the sense that drivers from your right are given more importance. They do not take into consideration the sizes of two roads and T junctions too. To slow down the speed is the key word for the drivers and so they try to make smaller paths into busy vehicle-laden roads. Of course priority is given to the one already on the circle in the case of traffic circles.
The speed restriction on busy roads in France is 50km p/h. Slow down to 50 km p/h while you are driving on busy roads. When you see the name of a place in black displayed within a red bordered white sign you have to know that you are entering into a built up area. Know that you are about to leave the built up area if you find the same sign with a red diagonal line.
130 km p/h is the speed allowed on auto routes in France which are the largest motorways. The speed allowed on dual carriageways is of course 110km p/h while the limit is 90km p/h while driving on smaller district highways. These speed limits are not to be displayed on the roads and this is a defect and hence you are expected to be aware of these rules.
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