"Oh Shit" moments...

Just back from a week cycling around Normandy, only to learn of the "priorite a droite" rule when I got back. This explained a variety of "oh shit" moments that happened, people pulling out without looking, stopping on roundabouts, etc. It strikes me as the most illogical road rule I've heard of.

I think it's a pretty good way of organising priority; for starters, you don't need carriageway markings (although Germany now paints give-way lines), and if everybody knows the rule, they expect to have to stop at every four-way junction where the main street isn't granted priority (which can also happen through the diamond-shaped 'square omelette' signs).

While most main streets in Germany have these signs (and side streets have the corresponding 'give way' signs, the red-bordered triangle), it is good that there isn't always a street which has been clearly assigned the priority. I don't know if the 'right before left' rule led to more crashes than the British system of always assigning priority. That would be interesting to find out.