Right of Way question

[pcarnut]

When riding/driving on the Continent I read that in town, with no roundabout present, vehicles approaching from side streets on the right, have the right of way to pull out.  This is counter to what we have in the US where a vehicle from a side street must wait until traffic has passed before merging onto a thoroughfare.  Can someone clarify how this works please and does this still apply, is it only for town and cities, below a certain speed, only certain countries or ... ?  Thanks, Roger

[onthemayside]

It depends on the country, for example here in the UK we go around roundabouts in a particular lane and, depending on where our exit is we sometimes have to change lanes to exit the roundabout. It seems to work, apart from the idiots who don't know how to use them. In France however there is no lane discipline on roundabouts so it is basically every man for himself.  So when I'm in France I don't pass anyone on a roundabout on the left or right the way I would at home. I just close my eyes and hope for the best.

[McCrae72]

Originally Posted by pcarnut

When riding/driving on the Continent I read that in town, with no roundabout present, vehicles approaching from side streets on the right, have the right of way to pull out.  This is counter to what we have in the US where a vehicle from a side street must wait until traffic has passed before merging onto a thoroughfare.  Can someone clarify how this works please and does this still apply, is it only for town and cities, below a certain speed, only certain countries or ... ?  Thanks, Roger

As far as I know vehicles merging from side streets with just a junction, no roundabout, have to give way and wait for passing traffic to pass. Certainly works that way here in the UK.

[pcarnut]

Originally Posted by McCrae72

As far as I know vehicles merging from side streets with just a junction, no roundabout, have to give way and wait for passing traffic to pass. Certainly works that way here in the UK.

  That's what I thought until I saw an article about having to yield to a car coming out from a side street.  Seemed pretty screwy to me, having to brake or slow down and risk getting rear-ended.  Had a driver come up from a side street on my right and get upset with me while in Heidelberg last year, was trying to figure out what the heck I did wrong.

[McCrae72]

Originally Posted by pcarnut

  That's what I thought until I saw an article about having to yield to a car coming out from a side street.  Seemed pretty screwy to me, having to brake or slow down and risk getting rear-ended.  Had a driver come up from a side street on my right and get upset with me while in Heidelberg last year, was trying to figure out what the heck I did wrong.

That’s news to me, seems a strange way of doing things

[unsubtle]

Originally Posted by pcarnut

I read that in town, with no roundabout present, vehicles approaching from side streets on the right, have the right of way to pull out. 

Yes, that's correct. Sort of. It's called "priorité à droite" in France, but the same principle seems to apply to apply in towns in other Continental countries. If you see a sign which is a yellow diamond with a white border, priorité à droite does not apply and priority is as you would expect it. If the same sign has a black diagonal line over it, priorité à droite does apply. It also applies in towns unless white lines are used to indicate that one road has priority. Very often you will find an unmarked cross-roads in a town, and you should assume priorité à droite applies.

Generally I find that it is sufficient to look for white lines and forget about the diamond signs.. If present, you're fairly safe to assume normal road rules. If there are no white lines, be prepared to give way to traffic on the right.

[smorgan]

 In German housing estates traffic turning right from a minor to major road has priority

[McCrae72]

I know in Spain you aren’t allowed to cross a solid white line.......for any reason. I got caught out and warned by the police for this. In the UK solid white lines just mean no overtaking so I crossed the white line to access a layby on the opposite side of the road and the police where on me in seconds. So in Spain if you come out of a side road you have to go in the direction of travel until you can find a roundabout or the solid white lines disappear.

[NJornee]

The rule exist in Sweden too, but it's not very likely that a car will stop if you're coming on a bike from the right. Many drivers have forgotten all about giving the right of way, especially in the bigger cities, Stockholm particularly!

[NiK]

Originally Posted by onthemayside

In France however there is no lane discipline on roundabouts so it is basically every man for himself.

Wrong (from a legal point of view) and right (in the real world).

This is one of the many things that you learn when you pass your license examination, then forget as soon as you have the right to do so.
Keeping a safe distance with preceding vehicle, staying focused on your driving, driving on the rightmost lane, using indicators and mirrors... Every useful safety behavior is forgotten almost immediately and the fact all of the past governments always placed their bet on speeding (very valuable thanks to automatic fining) undoubtly made all of this worse.

As for "priorité à droite", this is still the base law on the road here. However, places where it applies have become extremely rare (roundabouts, STOP signs on secondary roads crossings, red lights, etc.). This BTW makes them few places extremely dangerous (firstly because giving right to the right is a nonsense for right driving roads, then because almost no one ever expects such a road situation to occur).