When it's right to forget the left

By VICTORIA SUMMERLEY

Remember to drive on the right." We've all smirked in a superior way at this sort of sign as we've driven off the ferry at Le Havre, Calais or St Malo, wondering exactly which species of motoring moron needs such a reminder.

But that smirk can evaporate a few hours later when you're pulling out of the hypermarche with the kids screaming in the back, or doing a U-turn in the middle of nowhere because someone has misread the map.

At these moments it is easy to revert to old habits and set off on the left and the consequences can be extremely serious.

The chances of being involved in a fatal road accident in France are twice as high as in Britain. The statistic is given in information from the Institute of Advanced Motorists which is a sobering read.

The institute's handbook, Driving Abroad, covers everything the left-hand driving motorist needs. As it points out, the rules of safe driving are the same anywhere in the world. It's just that in a strange situation you may like to think harder about adhering to them.

Institute spokesman Vince Yearley knows how even the most responsible driver can slip up when he or she is tired. "I remember stopping at a restaurant in a small French town. We'd been out for the day so, though I hadn't been drinking, I was quite tired.

"When we left, I drove off on the wrong side of the road. It took me a while to work out what I'd done, as there were two sets of headlights coming towards me, one on each side of the road. I ended up in the ditch."

Yearley's disorientation was compounded by the French predilection for ruthless overtaking, and it is not uncommon to hear foreign drivers moaning about the French habit of tailgating. Having said that, the French do observe their own sort of motorway discipline.

The outside lane is very much the overtaking lane, not somewhere to pootle along at 60 km/h. So once you have overtaken, pull in again as soon as it is safe to do so or you will find Monsieur Machismo uncomfortably close behind you.

I'm always surprised by how many foreigners prefer to use French routes nationales on a long journey rather than the peage. Yes, the peage costs more, yes, it may be boring, but you won't have to sit behind some filthy great camion for most of the way, and neither will you have to dodge M. Machismo overtaking another filthy great camion coming in the opposite direction.

Besides, if you travel on a public holiday, all those quaint auberges on the back roads will be shut, whereas on the peage, there are regular service stations and rest areas.

I'm always touched by the efforts that the French highway authorities make to enliven the peage journey: notices naming each river, and signs with stylised depictions of the landmarks and points of interest of nearby towns. You can learn a lot about France from the peage. And you don't have to remember which side of the road you're on, either.

Moto Europa