Rond-points!
One of France's greatest inventions...allegedly...
In today’s Globe and Mail I write about rond-points, or round-abouts, the allegedly French invention that really does make the world a better place.
It’s at the Globe and Mail here.
Or without a paywall here.
COVID-19 restrictions are disappearing and France is expecting another one million Canadians to visit the country this year. Many will arrive after a lengthy flight, collect their luggage and clear customs at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, then climb into a rental car. Minutes later, they’ll suddenly find themselves immersed in a stream of French drivers circling around a traffic circle or rond-point. And once they’ve escaped that first traffic circle, they’ll immediately find themselves in a second, and a third, and in all likelihood, yet another.
Welcome to France, and the first of more than 30,000 traffic circles, the multilane roundabouts that challenge visiting drivers to learn new rules, new signs, a new language. They also provide no chance whatsoever to just stop and figure out where you’re going.
This was an excellent article, Barry! One of the things I enjoy so much about your writing is the observation from all sides and the research behind it.
When we went the first time, we were puzzled at first to the rules of some that were bigger and some that were smaller. The countryside ones gave us a bit better chance to discern what was happening but it also helped that I was in the backseat with our daughter while my husband and our friend traversed the freeways on map as they flowed along on the roadways. Had I been driving, we would have been in a farmer's field in short time. Though they never did figure out the one at the Arc de Triomphe, by time we came home to Canada, we wholeheartedly agreed with you that traffic circles are the ticket.