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UM . Bad luck. Sorry.

France should look at roundabouts in Holland where separate lanes are divided by solid barriers - you get in the wrong lane and you are physically blocked from suddenly turning right , or cutting across the nose of a car on that side of you.

Quote: Originally posted by jennifernn on 14/8/2011

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Italy is bad too.

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The procedure at roundabouts in France is virtually the same as the U.K. if you are turning right or going straight on you position your vehicle on the right hand side if you are turning left you position the vehicle in the left hand side of the highway.

You should indicate your intention to turn off immediatly after the preceding exit,if you are going left you should indicate left as you approach the roundabout and continue to indicate left untill you are at the junction prior to your required exit then indicate right.

You should not approach the roundabout indicating you are turning right unless you intend to take the first exit.

If you are uncertain which exit you need you are advised to remain in the right hand lane with your indicator signalling left untill you find the exit you require.

The triangular signs  mean you give  way to traffic already on the roundabout but with the old blue circular ones there is no priority for traffic already on the roundabout and traffic entering from the right may have priority.

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Saxo1

Quote: Originally posted by saxo1 on 23/8/2011

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The procedure at roundabouts in France is virtually the same as the U.K. if you are turning right or going straight on you position your vehicle on the right hand side if you are turning left you position the vehicle in the left hand side of the highway.

You should indicate your intention to turn off immediatly after the preceding exit,if you are going left you should indicate left as you approach the roundabout and continue to indicate left untill you are at the junction prior to your required exit then indicate right.

You should not approach the roundabout indicating you are turning right unless you intend to take the first exit.

If you are uncertain which exit you need you are advised to remain in the right hand lane with your indicator signalling left untill you find the exit you require.

 

The triangular signs  mean you give  way to traffic already on the roundabout but with the old blue circular ones there is no priority for traffic already on the roundabout and traffic entering from the right may have priority.

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Saxo1

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Quote  "This is all very well, but I didn't see one French person doing this at any pf the many roundabouts I went across, in fact I gave up doing exactly as you have described as I was getting constantly cut up and almost side swiped."

That's your choice but in the event of an accident and you were the one changing lanes you would be at fault.

The French highway code draws particular attention to the dangers of lane changing on roundabouts.

Saxo1

Big lorries were our dream driving companions on our holiday! Slipstreaming behind them made a huge difference to the fuel gauge - and our tank lasted so much longer. Mind you we didnt get too worried about cars tailgating us as we couldnt see how close they were behind the caravan!

Quote: Originally posted by saxo1 on 23/8/2011

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Quote  "This is all very well, but I didn't see one French person doing this at any pf the many roundabouts I went across, in fact I gave up doing exactly as you have described as I was getting constantly cut up and almost side swiped."<!-- Signature -->

That's your choice but in the event of an accident and you were the one changing lanes you would be at fault.

The French highway code draws particular attention to the dangers of lane changing on roundabouts.

Saxo1

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"Is it written in English? 'Cos the French don't read it."

The UK one must be written in a foreign language as well cos the brits don't read ours either!

While writing this it struck me how concerned about political correctness I'm becoming I was going to say ours must be written in Arabic then realised it may cause offence!

Saxo1

Hi Warbis66,

Not Queens Cross. The Haudagan at the junction of Anderson Drive/Great Northerm Road. It's unbelieveable most of the day.

As Mr U-M has mentioned, we had an accident on a roundabout in La Roche Sur Yon a couple of weeks back.

We had entered the roundabout expecting to take the 2nd exit (effectively continuing straight on).  Mr U-M's car was towards the right of the carriageway width and he was signalling right to leave the roundabout.  We were moving slowly, checking that the exit signs bore the correct road number.  Mr Frenchman entered the roundabout at some point behind us and proceeded to attempt to pass us on our left - on the inside track of the roundabout. Unvisible in Mr U-M's mirrors at that angle, Mr Frenchman had almost passed our van and was about to come alongside our car.   As our car turned right-ish to begin to exit the roundabout - obviously the caravan doesn't follow exactly the same line as the car.  Mr Frenchman's car therefore collided with the left side of our caravan at its front corner, damaging the front panel and the side awning rail and locker-box trims.  Mr Frenchman's Audi lost a door mirror and received deep scratches to the wheelarch.  In fact, his car was quite badly damaged compared to our van.

We think it was his fault - undertaking us (at speed) on the inside where there wasn't sufficient room for his manoeuvre.  He, of course, says it was our fault.  There were no independent witnesses, so in all probability, the insurers will end up settling 50/50 (which will be annoying!).

Nevertheless, it is all a bit complicated.  Our towcar is company owned and insured, but our damage claim is for our caravan only.  We have separate comprehensive caravan insurance, but normally when towing, the car insurance policy is the effective one.  I can't quite see the employer's car insurance paying out for our van though!  I guess we will have to go through our caravan insurers, losing our excess and no claims bonuses.

No doubt the T's & C's of the various policies will be gone through and it will all get properly sorted.  C'est la vie, as they say.