DRIVING in PARIS is CRAZY! But I do it anyway. Here's Why!

Driving in and around European city centers, like Paris, is crazy...yet I choose to do it anyway...Here's why!

Let me know what you think in the comments below! And be sure to share this with your friends you may be interested in this!

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#Paris #France #CityCenter
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[Kerleem]

Am I crazy for driving in these city centers? Let me know what you think in the comments below!

[MartijnV]

The use of the blinker used te be mandatory in France when you want to stay in de overtake lane, it hasn’t been mandatory for years but especially the older drivers are still used to do it

[ramonv]

In France there are thousands of kilometers "route national" roads which have in most cases 2 lanes (1 per direction). By leaving the blinker on when overtaking you make it more clear to oncoming traffic that you are on the left lane. I guess it's a habbit they picked up and also use on the freeway.
By the way, I have seen this been doing also in Spain and Italy.

[jmz]

Funny thing in Paris : most (if not all) insurance companies have a disclosure specifically for the massive roundabouts in Paris : if you have an accident there, it's 50/50 for each driver, no matter what, even with a dashcam, or clear distracted driving, etc...

[jfungsf]

Normally I don't subscribe to car/car enthusiasts channels because of the smug, hostility & entitlement mentality that comes out of it. I'm also *NOT* a car enthusiast.

But Kerleem you're the *exception.* I really appreciate the genuine honesty that comes out of you. I really appreciate the fact that you don't have nor display any kind of smug or entitlement mentality when talking about driving in cities or driving in general.

Car/car enthusiasts channels can be quite alienating, but there's none of that in your channel which maximizes the joyfulness of your videos & this channel for a lot more people especially for those who aren't into cars.

Because of this, it makes watching your videos easy to enjoy along with it being *insightful & informative.*

Anyways thanks a lot. And hello again from San Francisco!😀👍💯🌁

[buddy]

The blinker thing can mean two things:
If there is a car in front it means: Get the fuck to the right I want to take you over.
If there is a car behind: Sorry, I have seen you but I want to take over an other car. (it kind of implies he will go to the right after the take over manoeuvre.)

[DelTa]

When i learned to drive 12 years ago, it was mandatory to use your blinker on highways whenever you would pass someone or go back to the right lane. I believe it is to overtake more safely, if there is another car behind you ready to pass you, you basically tell them "be careful i'm gonna pass so wait for your turn to pass me". Maybe it could be seen as some sort of road courtesy

[goduxunike]

Sure is a challenge to drive in Paris! Occasionally I could see how it would be satisfying, but there is a reason a lot of Parisians chose to not have a car. Thanks for the video and insights, it’s interesting to see the opinion of someone who comes from a country with a very different driving culture.

[verttikoo]

Where I live no one knows how correctly drive in roundabouts. As a punishment they should be sent to Paris.

[erikig]

Great summary, I’d also add, most people drive manual and you rarely ever see any accidents even with all that chaos.

[Interceptor]

1:10 a 2 door Land Cruiser

wished they sold this in America or at least still made it. I remember seeing a whole bunch of these in my Bahrain/Saudi/UAE trip a few years ago

[aesma]

French here. I agree that in Paris you need both aggressiveness and calm, which is a bit confusing. Basically you will get through some places much better if you can make a quick acceleration, and let others avoid you (not saying be dangerous), than going too slowly and blocking everyone. On the other hand sometimes, either because you screwed up or because there is too much traffic, you will go slow, maybe block others, then patience is king, and not getting upset if others honk at you. In theory it's illegal to stop in the middle of intersections so if a green light will probably turn red with you in the middle, you should stop at the green. Many locals won't do this and instead block the intersection...

[astromec]

4:58 They do this cuz that’s supposed to be the rule in France. U’re supposed to keep ur left turn signal on till u’re finished passing. But I think this rule was created when highways had fewer lanes than now and traffic volume was lower and they probably never updated that rule. Most ppl don’t follow it anymore as it can lead to confusion when the highway has more than 2 lanes (or even when they r just 2 lanes u could think that someone wants to overtake u just to find out they left their signal on).

[TheLtData]

Done it several times: just stay calm, use blinkers and take your place on the road. Besides: not all streets are terribly busy.

[rlas]

In Germany keeping the left turn signal on on a road that is one way is considered a disturbance and police may fine you. When you overtake on 2 way roads though you are supposed to keep the turn signal on till you switch back in your original lane 🤔

[tomix]

Thank you very much for the video and the very useful information. Something I wanted to ask if there are tolls on the Amsterdam Paris route?

[Hammer]

I once caught myself in the city centre of Paris, re-directed by roadworks, in a 25 year old Volvo with a 30 year old Volvo on a trailer behind it. It was not a fun experience, but somehow me and the cars got through there undamaged. Paris certainly isn't for the faint of heart!

[paralleldimensions_E]

I'm originally from Toronto, Canada but have been living in Paris for the last 20 years. I generally travel back to the US/Canada every few months, but I'm so used to Paris driving that every time I go back it just feels weird driving there! That said, I think in Paris everybody understands when you cut ppl off or get cut off - it's just about making the best use of road space at a given moment and therefore ppl don't take things personally as much as they do in the US or Canada. There is a traffic code, but sometimes you need to liberally use your judgment! But this is the same for all Paris Road users and this in itself is a sort of code I guess!

[funkypaul]

The " blinker thing" is very common in France. Even the cops do it! 😂 This is the explanation:

DO YOU HAVE TO LEAVE YOUR INDICATOR WHEN OVERTAKING ANOTHER CAR?
Whatever road you are driving on, you must signal that you are about to overtake another vehicle by triggering the left indicator.
If you intend to stay in the left lane for a while, so you can outpace the flow of cars on the right, turn off the turn signal.
On the other hand, if you intend to move into the right-hand lane after overtaking the vehicle, keep the left turn signal on throughout the overtaking period, then, when you decide to move into the right-hand lane, trigger the right turn signal.
After changing lanes, remember to turn off the turn signal. ( Thx Google)

And no, you're not crazy for taking your car to Paris. Even if it can be intimidating at first, once you're in the flow, and you drive with the flow, it's ok.

ps: Stay away from Brussel City Center! ( LEZ, 30 km/h, cars banned from the city center, no parking, ...)

Bonne route from Herne, Belgium!
( Paul Navez, retired, 62, former CS Engineer with over 1M Km on the counter after 35 years on the road)

[kaybe]

Some weird thing I noticed in France is that when they see someone approaching in the left lane and they’re in the right lane. They’ll just throw their car in the left lane to pass another car. They don’t even wait for the faster car in the left lane to pass. This is so annoying.