The Craziest Roundabout in Europe - Arc de Triomphe in Paris

This is probably the craziest roundabout in Europe. At the first look, you may think this is somewhere in India... But actually, this roundabout is in Paris. It's Arc de Triomphe roundabout! It's insane!

[shankarlakshmanan]

Oh, now I get it. If you drive through successfully, it’s a triumph.

[plum_bit]

A German would faint at the sight of such disorganization.

[tstrrtstrr]

I live in Germany and we went to Paris last weekend by car and I drove there like 10 rounds. It's great fun and kind of like a controlled chaos that works. Haha great fun!

[technoshock]

The reason why this particular roundabout is so chaotic, is because in this one, vehicles ENTERING the roundabout have priority, which means anyone in the roundabout must give way to any vehicle entering from the right.

This is due to the "priorité à droite" (literally "priority to the right") rule, which means you have to give way to vehicles coming from the right at crossings with no signage or traffic lights.
Nearly every French roundabout now has signage indicating that vehicles inside the roundabout have priority, and those entering must give way.
This one is a (notorious) exception.

I have no idea why this is the case. Maybe to reduce traffic jams in the adjacent roads...

[sourceeee]

It literally looks like a free for all. Its like schools of fish travelling through the ocean or like ants lmao

[HansLollo]

I was stuck in there once with the car. A police officer had to help me get out...

[farhansolo]

I'm from the United States and I've drove around Arc De Triomphe a year ago, it was an unprecedented experience

[wazzanose]

I drove around there many times in the 1980's in a tour bus. There are 12 roads connecting to that roundabout and no lane markings. I once saw a car travelling at 90 degrees to the traffic flow trying to get to his exit. At least it's tarred now, I remember it as being cobblestones.

[marklevine]

Drove from Paris to Normandy and back. The French drivers were great. No problems until returning to Paris and having to go through the Arc de Triomphe roundabout during rush hour. This video must have been taken during a lull in traffic. While we made it through, we missed our designated exit #13 by about three exits.

[Nazarebrah]

That’s a normal scene at every junction in my country. The good thing with this chaos is that there’s absolutely no road rage, as everyone understands everyone’s situation and nobody has any sense of entitlement or priority. 😂

[humbleadventures]

Beautiful views all over Paris, yet whilst I was there I spent 20 minutes just staring at the traffic lol

[ouinon]

A little bit of context, this place was created as it is in the 19 centurie before car existed.
We keep it like this without lanes and without reworking the traffic logic pretty much for esthétiques.
It was not made to be functional with car but pedestrians and such

[mastermaltese]

So basically, fit your car in any empty space in any direction at any angle and hope that *maybe* you make it round in less than 1/2 hr without crashing.

[hristijanristevski]

IF you can cross this roundabout without hitting someone.. you should get a gold medal!

[tobeswhite]

I love how they're a proper first-world country and have all the funding and resources to create an efficient roundabout but they're like no.

[Cucube]

Keep in mind that roundabout is the only one of its kind in France ! This one gives you priority if you're coming from a street while any other roundabout gives priority to the cars in the circle. That one is chaotic gotta admit, but it's not that dangerous as long as you're aware of it ;)

[wavo]

Only 2 rules: don’t hit the person in front of you, don’t worry about what is coming from behind you 😂

[Pfahli]

People seem to miss the point. Having a disorganized system like this is forcing the drivers to drive way slower and more careful. Since there are less traffic signs to confuse anybody, everyone can concentrate fully on his surroundings, thus less accidents and especially less serious accidents. It may seem chaotic, but at the end of the day you are still faster through it than waiting on a traffic light.

It’s basically the same principle as with people walking around at a busy place, just at a much larger scale.

[Pfsif]

The Grizwalds are still there in the circle.

[oot]

The magnificent Arc. There are few accidents there because they drive with awareness and common sense.