Is J. Lohr for Real?

"RV WRLee" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@mb-m07.aol.com...

Not if you drive an European car... We have the steering wheel on the left side, you know. :-) Anders

Salut/Hi Tom,

le/on 08 May 2004 05:21:52 GMT, tu disais/you said:-

English, rather than American, you mean. (;-))) GD&R)

Priority means right of way, yes. I've not met your word "Traffic circle" so I have no idea what it is. In France (now the Brits have started removing them) they have recently started building what they call "Rondpoint" and what the British (who invented them) call "roundabouts". Roads meet at a more or less large circle, with a central island. Traffic moves in an anti-clockwise (UK clockwise) direction around them. Right of way at them is usually decided by road markings and signs. In general, however, When there ISN'T a road marking, you give way to the vehicle on your right.

However, it is the norm that at roundabouts, right of way belongs to the vehicle already on the roundabout, this violating the _general_ rule (when road markings don't over-ride it) that right of way belongs to the vehicle on the right. If you think about it, traffic circulating widdershins on a roundabout will find all the other roads around it on their right. However, I HAVE seen rondpoints in France where not only is there "normal" right of way (thus you have to give way to traffic entering), but others where there are traffic lights AND "normal" priority too!!!

While "priority to the right" is a simple rule, it can be a touch - err - "academic", when a driveway enters a derestricted through route for example.

In this area, for example, we have some really tiny roads entering a "route nationale" - the equivalent of an interstate. Well priorité à droite means that any car on a side road to my right as I barrel down the main road at 60 mph can enter the main road _without even LOOKING_ my way. This was a fruitful source of road deaths, so now road junctions on all but the most minor country roads and in town are prioritised. I would guess that France is gradually going over to a system of priority by sign, rather than the old system.

Imagine doing these with to much wine in your system.

] >In France, in general those on the roundabout have priority. They are marked ] >accordingly. The "priority to the right" rule has almost entirely been ] >abandoned. ] >-- ] >All the Best ] >Ian Hoare ] ] I want to make sure I am understanding the jargon. In France, those in a ] traffic circle have the right of way, correct? The two terms you use are ] entirely foreign to me. Maybe they are British English. ]

Tom,

traffic circle (american) = roundabout (english)

right-of-way (american) = priority

In France you don't have the priority when in the circle unless it is marked specially. But in practice, everywhere outside of Paris is so marked, so your statement is correct everywhere except the capital.

-E

You will be happy to hear that most of them have been taken down unless it is an intersection where it is difficult to see the cars coming from the left.

Did you know there is also a "left on red" law in MA? If you are on a one way road, turning left onto a one way road, you may turn left on red after stopping and yielding(as long as turning left does make you go the wrong way down the one way road). That confused me the first time a had a car beeping at me because I wasn't turning left at a red light.

Andy

And just to show a bit of variety, in Oregon and Washington and are on a _two-way_ street, you can turn left onto a one-way street at a red light (if it's going in that direction). 'Course not everyone is aware of this, so you often sit behind someone at a light who doesn't know this lovely little jewel and insists on waiting until the light changes. (And honking'd have no effect because they'd have _no_ idea what you were going on about.) It's good for scaring the bejeezus out of a passenger occasionally, too. :-)

-- Regards,

- Roy

=*=*Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest. - Mark Twain The truth is rarely pure, and never simple. - Oscar Wilde

Also in Florida, fwiw...

Thought it was Right on Red in Florida unless otherwise posted.

Both

And in CA - everything people said about MA, WA and OR so far is true here, too.

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And in NY. It's probably true in all, or at least most US States.

The turning left from a one-way onto a one-way I believe _is_ pretty standard. The turning left from a two-way onto a one-way is a fair bit more rare. Last I knew, CA didn't have that, for example.

-- Regards,

- Roy

=*=*Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.

- Mark Twain The truth is rarely pure, and never simple. - Oscar Wilde