My post about receiving five “camera” speeding tickets in France in the span of two days generated quite a lot of comments. Thank you very much to those of you who provided unbiased, constructive feedback and advice, sprinkled with a touch of empathy. We have paid the tickets and learned our lesson.
Unfortunately, I accidentally deleted the post, but wanted to pass on one of the most helpful responses which is packed with tons of good information and links about driving in France. Good luck to those of you who may be planning to rent a car in France in the near future. Read on…
Speed limits in France are standardized and the government expects a driver to know what the limit is for that situation.
-- As soon as you enter a town, called an agglomération and indicated by the name of the town in black letters surrounded by a red border on a rectangular white sign (http://preview.tinyurl.com/ourr5hf), the maximum allowable speed drops to 50 km/h (31 mph) unless posted otherwise. In my experience you'll rarely see a 50 sign because you're expected to know the rule. The speed reverts to normal upon exiting the agglomération, indicated by a similar sign as seen when entering but with a black border and red diagonal stripe across it (http://preview.tinyurl.com/o3sx57e).
-- On roads where there's no physical divider and one lane in each direction, the maximum speed is 90 km/h (56 mph)
-- On roads where there's a physical separation (such as a median strip) and two or more lanes in each direction (and in urban areas on all major highways, the maximum speed is 110 km/h (68 mph)
-- On Autoroutes (like interstate highways), the maximum speed (may be lowered in certain circumstances) is 130 km/h (81 mph)
-- In cities where you're in a mixed zone with bikes, cars, and pedestrians (called a zone de rencontre) the maximum speed generally will be 20 km/h (12 mph)
The maximum speed for new drivers and trucks is less in most higher-speed zones.
The maximum speed everywhere is 50 km/h when visibility is reduced to less than 50 m (164 ft) in the opinion of the police, which could include fog, heavy rain or snow, and so on.
French driving test study books (called le Code de la Route) usually have a handy graphic to summarize these rules, as all drivers are expected to know them. Here's an example: http://www.securite-routiere.gouv.fr/connaitre-les-regles/reglementation-et-sanctions/vitesse. This one is more graphical if you don't read French: http://www.autoecolerouengare.fr/Limitations-de-vitesse-cczaaaaaa.asp (the letter "A" indicates an inexperienced driver).
A key difference in France from driving in the U.S. is the concept of priorité à droite (priority to the right) which means one must yield at an intersection to another vehicle approaching from the right in certain circumstances (such as an absence of signage). This may be indicated by a sign ahead of time (http://reussirpermis.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/priorite-a-droite.jpg) or it may not (again, you're just supposed to know). This graphic (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W6PdCSPYbOM/TO8njT4ncuI/AAAAAAAACpg/Q80o-hMaD4A/s1600/right+priority+sign+.jpg) is a pretty good summary in English of the signs related to priorité à droite but the first descriptor not quite accurate -- that sign just means you have priority for the next intersection only. So a safety tip would be to be very careful at intersections.
Regarding warnings for radar installations, you usually see signs indicating contrôles radars fréquents (http://images.sudouest.fr/images/2010/07/28/148875_panneau1_460x306.jpg) ahead of when the radar check zone starts. These may be handheld radar (radar pistolet), permanent installations (radar fixe) or vehicle-mounted radar (radar embarqué). Also, http://about-france.com/travel.htm and http://wikitravel.org/en/DrivinginFrance might be helpful.
