7 ms·
As a Parisian driver, I think I understand exactly what he means. Other Parisian drivers violate the rules with a nicely predictable scheme where non Parisian m
by reacweb 9y ago
As a Parisian driver, I think I understand exactly what he means. Other Parisian drivers violate the rules with a nicely predictable scheme where non Parisian may respect the rules but are very dangerous and get horned continuously.
- cordite 9y agoWhat are the rules for if following them makes them dangerous?
- JumpCrisscross 9y agoWith traffic, agreement often matters more than the specific rules.
- yoz-y 9y agoThe rules are supposed to be a universal agreement. Otherwise it makes it very dangerous to drive in a different city even though the laws are the same.
- mannykannot 9y agoTo provide some means for censuring those people who flagrantly disregard the unwritten rules (I know that, formally, that looks nonsensical, but in practice it is not.)
- Iv 9y agoThe rules are not "for" something in France. They just appear out of committees and political compromises and are often half-assed implementations of nonsensical middle-ground between two coherent positions. Some may occasionally align with public interest. One of the things you learn living in France is a sense of the rules that make no sense and that everybody is probably disregarding, and the ones that are actually useful and probably enforced. Always smile to a clerk. They will tell you which mandatory paper is not mandatory and which rule you can break. They will also tell you which rule the state is incapable of following and how to get around it.
- stephengillie 9y agoTo selectively enforce against people you arbitrarily do not like.
- mannykannot 9y agoIt is rather self-serving to say that people following the rules are creating danger. If you are driving in such a way that a dangerous (as opposed to merely inconvenient) situation results from someone following the rules, you are not driving with sufficient caution.
- reacweb 9y agoFor example, to change lanes, a Parisian will put on his flashing light and change lanes just after even if a car is arriving. He knows that in Paris everyone is attentive to other cars and have seen his flasher. A non-Parisian guy's gonna put on his flasher and wait for space. This never happens and he ends up changing lanes very unexpectedly.
- yoz-y 9y agoSo... when there is somebody who isn't a Parisian and they hit a car because they did not know this, are they in fault? I live in Paris, and although I do not drive I have the impression that most drivers here are extremely inconsiderate. As an example, there is a crossing which is constantly congested with buses and lorries stuck in the middle here. This is mainly because nobody respects the rules or priorities. When an officer comes in to control the traffic instead of the lights, it gets "magically" cleaned up and the circulation is fluid.
- mannykannot 9y agoIf that driver is signaling, then a move should not be unexpected, especially if the unwritten rule is that one must force one's way into another lane. You are actually providing an example that the Parisian way of doing things is not as benignly efficient as you suggested in your first post.
- reacweb 9y agoIf you adopt the Parisian way, you can change lane very easily and quickly even if there is a big traffic jam. I have drive in traffic jam in smaller towns (like Cherbourg), it was more difficult to change lane. The fact that you can not change lane without forcing is a normal consequence of the increase of the traffic. I think the unwritten rule is that people should not turn on flashing lights too early before acting. The better communication of the intents and a fair level of trust that other drivers will understand it (and not try to block you) makes driving a lot easier (in Paris).
- ynniv 9y agoI saw the same thing in Boston. Instead of "violating the rules", I would say that local drivers obey a set of unwritten local rules that are more appropriate for the situations they encounter. These local rules make things safer and more efficient because the global rules that are written for wide, straight highways don't map well onto low visibility corners, confusing or incorrect signage, low speed side roads merging onto fast thoroughfares, roads (sometimes purposely) without painted lines, etc. I felt that Boston drivers often adopted Right of Way, a notion familiar to boaters. Faster cars with more maneuverability are in general expected to avoid slower cars or those with less maneuverability. If someone pulls out in front of you (perhaps because they were stopped and couldn't find a better time to merge), it's your duty to not hit them. On the other hand, if you are on a side street waiting to merge, it's expected that you wait for a break that's "big enough", then pull out and accelerate as fast as possible. None of these rules are written, but they are still consistent and safer than trying to rigidly apply global rules to the situation.
- whafro 9y agoThe roundabout on the Cambridge side of the BU bridge, which I unfortunately have to take home most evenings, is something I can't imagine a driverless car handling. Sometimes it's a single-lane roundabout, but at peak hours it can support as many as five cars wide, eventually merging into a single lane over the bridge, and the traffic pattern is different every day. Driving on highways is easy, and solving that is still valuable, but it's going to be amazing to see these things work in situations like those.