La circulation Flashcards
what does a yellow triangle imply on a road sign?
Temporary danger
what do these road signs mean? (shape & colour)
direction signs! (follow/suivre the chosen direction)
green= between big cities (grandes villes)
blue= to the autoroute (highway)
white= local sign (locale)
Meaning?
Indication or information (for example: a behaviour to take)
meanings?
blue outline= installation
full blue= for the drive
meaning?
prescription (from the point that you see the sign generally)
what do these signs mean?
red= interdiction/stop sign
black line= end
blue full= obligation
blue + red line= end
what do these colours mean?: yellow white green blue
yellow= temporary white= permanent green= permitted movements and directions or guidance blue= guide signs
what do you do if you see a danger sign?
slow down (ralentir), identify risks (repérer le risque annoncé) and chose appropriate actions (choisir les actions adaptées)
what do you do if you see this?
Risk of rocks falling (chute de pierres)
Ralentir (slow down) pour pouvoir éviter des pierres déjà tombées.
S’attendre à ce que des véhicules venant en face puissent faire des écarts (wait for oncoming vehicles to possibly swerve.)
what does this mean? what should you do?
Dangerous descent! (descente dangereuse). The 8% implies there is an 8m drop over a distance of 100m.
action: adapt speed (allure) and down shift (rétrograder) to avoid being dragged down slope
what does this mean? what should you do?
Dangerous descent! (descente dangereuse). The 8% implies there is an 8m drop over a distance of 100m.
action: adapt speed (allure) and down shift (rétrograder) to avoid being dragged down slope
what does this mean?
Ce panneau interdit donc de tourner à droite et à gauche (this sign prohibits turning right or left; keep straight; one-way traffic)
Les marquages au sol (meaning)
floor markings; indicate how you should drive, when to stop, circulation rules etc.
how long are traffic lane lines?
3 m:
“Les traits des lignes discontinues délimitant les voies de circulation sur route ont une longueur de 3 mètres.”
ligne axiale:
ligne de rive
what is it and what does it do
ligne de dissuasion
(deterrent line):
elle autorise le dépassement des véhicules roulant lentement (lets you overtake slow vehicles)
what is it; what does it do?
ligne de d’avertissement (warning line)
–> elle annonce une ligne continue
announces upcoming contnious line
what is this, what does it imply?
MIXED road; le conducteur doit tenir compte de la ligne la plus proche de lui, l’autre concerne le sens de circulation inverse.
take into account line closest to you (context)
what is it, what does it announce?
continious line: elle délimite la voie dans laquelle le conducteur doit rester.
Toutefois, la ligne continue peut être chevauchée (to pass) uniquement pour dépasser un cycliste.
what does a ‘ligne discontinue’ look like and imply?
separates 2-way traffic on a road
what is it? what does it do?
Its a ‘ligne de rive’ on a highway; indicates emergency stop zone (elle délimite la bande d’arrêt d’urgence.)
what is this?
short edge lines on a road; ligne de rive sur route–> indicates the borders of the road
what is this? special about it?
its a voie (a path/way); voie the stockage (storage lane)
lets you change direction of travel without upsetting the traffic going straightwards
elle permet un changement de direction sans gêner la circulation des usagers continuant tout droit.
what is this? special about it?
acceleration line; to enter highway or express way
what is it? what does it let you do?
Voie de décélération : elle permet de sortir d’une autoroute ou d’une route express, sans gêner les autres usagers.
what is the Voie d’entrecroisement
lle permet de sortir ou de s’insérer dans la circulation. Les véhicules s’entrecroisent.
Lets you leave or insert yourself into circulation while cars are circuling (INTERSECTION LANE)
what is this, special about it?
o Fat short lines on highway next to long lines= for slower vehicles
Voie réservée aux véhicules lents : délimitée par un marquage blanc nettement plus large que les autres.
what is this, special about it?
o Fat short lines on highway next to long lines= for slower vehicles
Voie réservée aux véhicules lents : délimitée par un marquage blanc nettement plus large que les autres.
How is the Voie de bus indicated?
délimitée par des lignes blanches très larges (very large white lines).
Les voies de bus à contresens sont séparées par une ligne continue. (opposite-way with a continuous line)
cycle lane? (what is it, who is it for?)
Bande cyclable : espace réservé à la circulation des vélos, parfois autorisé aux cyclomoteurs.
how is a bus stop indicated?
large yellow zig-zag lines
what does a pedestarian crossing look like?
white zebra lines
what is this?
a distress lane (red and white checkboard markings)
describe this
Zebras: hatchings are painted to replace a landscaping
des hachures sont peintes pour remplacer un terre-plein.
x
what is an intersection
when roads meet and there is a possibillity to change direction (Une intersection est un croisement de deux ou plusieurs routes permettant de suivre ou changer de direction. )
several types exist & specific panels (les panneaux), traffic lights (les tricolors) or officials ( les agents de la circulation ) give indications on how and what to do
what to do if there is no sign?
‘priorite a droite’; priority is always give to the right; if you have no-one on your right you have priority
BUT drivers in private way (chemins terres) always have to give priortiy to ‘main road’ users
what type of intersection is this? challenges?
a ‘t’ intersection; usually have bad visibllity
type of intersection? special about it?
‘y’ intersection; usually in the countryside
what is this?
a type of intersection; a roundabout (carrefour a sens giratoire)
what are these?
intersection road-signs; give priorty rules
what does it mean to give-way (french word)
cedez le passage:
Giving way means committing only if possible, without forcing other users to change their trajectory or their pace.
describe what to do in this situation:
you have the right of way
and you encounter…
you circulate untill you find,
while the others yield or stop
describe what to do in this situation:
you need to yield right of way and you encounter no road sign or…
generally everyone has the same signal so you continue yielding right of way
describe what to do in this situation:
you have right of way and you encounter:
you have right of way but only at this intersection
describe what to do in these situations:
you need to yield to users on the ‘priority’ road (this could be to right, left or in front of you)
option a: you DONT need to stop only yield in 150 m right of way
option b: in 150m you need to stop entirely at the white line
what might there be if the intersection is ambigious?
the road dsigns will have addiitonal infromation signals to show you the ‘priority’ branch highlighted
what does this mean?
yield to current users comming from the left of the ring
what does this mean?
on a roundabout; tell you to ‘yield’ to other drivers
how to turn on a roundabout?
put turn signals to left (to enter inner circle) and then turn on the right when u are reaching the lane u want to enter
when can you pass a red feux tricoleure?
when there is a red cross behind it indicating you can turn left without yielding
meaning?
stop
slow down
pass
accelerate
stop
how should one position themselves on the road while driving?
normally, a moving vehicle must be placed close to the right edge of the roadway while maintaining a safety space allowing it to reduce a surface in poor condition (pothole, unstabilized shoulder, etc.).
The driver must follow the direction indicated by the arrows painted on the ground.
If there are several lanes allowing to go in the same direction, the driver should as far as possible place himself in the lane furthest to the right of the direction he wishes to follow.
during intense lane changes; turn on your distress signals
what type of change is this? what should you do?
‘carrefour classique’ ; turn left by bypassing rear
what type of change is this & what should you do?
‘carrefour indonessiene’: turning left is done at the front of the other cars; car already closer/more visible turns first
list the type of roads
2-way-lane 1-way-lane conditional 1 way lane limited access route (bus, taxi, cycles) highway (autoroute); no bikes, morotcyles allowed
what is a road composed of?
when do speed limits lower?
bad weather
bad visibllity e.g. fog; lower than 50 m
slow drivers (large cars)
speed limits in the city:
- normal conditions?
- bad weather
- slow vehicles
- low visibllity
always 50
speed limits in 2-way-lane?
- normal conditions?
- bad weather
- slow vehicles
- low visibllity
80 but 50 under low visibllity
speed limits in 2-way lane with overtaking niche (creneau de depassement)
- normal conditions?
- bad weather
- slow vehicles
- low visibllity
90 in normal conditions 80 bad weather/slow cars and 50 in low visiblity
speed limits on roads separating highway and urban zone?
- normal conditions?
- bad weather
- slow vehicles
- low visibility
110 normal, 100 in bad weather/slow cars, and 50 in low visibllity
speed limits on highway
- normal conditions?
- bad weather
- slow vehicles
- low visibility
130, 110,110, 50
things to keep in mind with speed changes
up to driver to change speed; but generally dont go over max speed limit
depassement meaning?
to overtake
in french; crossing?
croissement
how do crossings work?
always to the right to prevent accidents
rules for crossing with larger cars
larger cars lets smaller car pass (a large car is more than 2m W and 7 m L)
what to do if there is an obstacle on the road and another car wants to pass?
let the car arriving in front pass first (the ones least affected by obstacle)
rules for crossing on a sloping road (route en pente)
descending vehicle should pause/stop to allow for climbing cars to move more easily
generally lighter/easier-to-drive cars acts first if there are 2 cars of same type; one going down moves back unless the one going up is near an avoidance spot
general rule for overtaking?
you overtake on the left
what do you need to keep in mind when overtaking?
- distance, speed & safety:
good visibllity behind/front
no intersections/overtaking points
no prohibition signs on overpassing
speed difference respect
what speed difference do you need to respect when overpassing
difference of 20 km/h between car in front and behind
steps for overtaking
- check mirrors
- use clignonants (turn signals)
- leave left lane
- overtake
- overtake to right with safe time gap to car behind you
meaning?
no overtaking allowed
when is overtaking not allowed on 2 way lane?
- when there are bends (virage), top of a hill, fog, heavy rain, snowfall
- when car in front obscures visibillity
- at height of right-of-way or intersection
can you overtake in a 2 way-road?
only when no cars coming at all
can you overtake several cars?
yes but only if very close, good visibllity and speed
what does this mean?
its a 3 lane route
what is special about 3 lane routes
you can overtake cars even if there is bad visibllity
how to overtake on highways
stay on the view of the left to pass cards; take into account right lane is always slower
when CANT you overpass
- special signs
- bad conditions/visibllity
- continious white lines
- a downward turn facing arrow (une fleche de rabattaement)
- if someone is on a pedestrian crossing or if a motorist brakes at a pedestrian crossing;
- winter service machiens on mission
- a bus signaling its intention to leave its stop.
- from the right, a vehicle not traveling in the normal traffic lane (except a car which has signaled its intention to turn left);
what should you do when someons overtook you?
- dont accelrate
- stay right
- keep the same speed but relent if a person is in
front - light up the turn signals at night
- turn on wipers if rainy
types of ‘stopping’ (arret)
- when picking up/leaving passangers
- to charge/decharge a vehicle
- stop signs
definition of parking
comblete immobilization of car & leaving it behind
types of parking
- en creneau: (nested) along sidwalk
- en epi: (spiked) at angle to sidealk
- en bataille: vehicle is perpendicular to street (parallel parking)
what type of parking is this
Stationnement en épi (spiked)
what type of parking is this?
parallel parking (en bataille)
what type of parking is this?
- en creneau: (nested) along sidewalk
what is this and where does it apply
you can’t stop or park
usually just at the sign or intersextion
what is this and where does it apply
no parking allowed; sometimes attached with a note that says:
length at which it applies
period (hours/days)
drivers concerned (overlarge cars)
what does thsi mean?
semi-monthly road side car parking; changes every 2 weeks
not allowed to park on right road on the 1-15 of each month
Its not allowed to park between 16-31 of the month
what does this mean
- Shows the entire zone (so left vs right side of parking)
o First 15 days; you can park on the odd numbers
o Second 15 days: you can park on the even numbers
what are blue parkign zones?
you’re allowed to park there but for limited amount of time. Usually have signs lilke these.
what is an Horodateur?
a ‘time keeper’ that lets you pay poarking tickets; placed in curb side wiendshiled to indicate time you parked there (also a disque form)
what is ‘abusive parking’
Uninterrupted parking for more than 7 days is prohibited (and might change depending on local regulations)
where to park in an urban area? (agglomeration)
As a general rule, when the street has sidewalks, the stationary or parked vehicle must be placed:
on the right in the direction of travel in a two-way street,
right or left on a one-way street.
At night, there is no obligation to signal a vehicle parked along the sidewalk, if the public lighting illuminating the street is on all night.
where to park d’hors un agglomeration?
As a general rule, the vehicle must be placed off the roadway.
Stopping or parking takes place:
either on the right shoulder,
either on the left shoulder, provided that there is no opposing signage (continuous central line for example).
At night, there is no obligation to leave the lights on. Please note that high beams are prohibited.
where is parking prohibited?
in front of garages/private gates double-lanes specific road paths ahighway logical places (bridge, lamp, bus lane, taxi station) wheelchair areas road signs inetersections curbs, hills, etc
places with no parking signs
parking violation fines 2* class?
minor; non applicalbe
forfaitaire (flat rate); 35 euro
increased: 75 euro
maximum: 150 euro
0 points retracted
parking violation fines 4* class or dangerous parking
minor non applicable
flat rate is 135 euro
raised is 375
max is 750 euro
what lights are in front
2 feux de position clignotant droit clignotatn gauche 2 feux de croisement 2/4 feux de route 2 feux de brouillard
what lights are in back
2 feux rouges 2 feux stop 2 clignotants, 1/2 feux de recul 2 reflective reds, eclairage de plaque, 1 or 2 feux d ebrouillard
