I did a post way back in 2011 about our local villages' apparent penchant for zebra crossings and was reminded of it on my way from Ligueil to Descartes (and back...for another post). This journey takes you through the village of Cussay on the D31.On the way through (first time) I noticed that this village actually tells you how many they have.(they actually have at least 10) these 8 are on the main street.
On my second 'passing through' I decided to clock the distance from entering to leaving the village, It was 0.3km, so that means that the crossings are one every 40 mtrs or so.Now I would have to say that. like most villages here, I have never ever seen anyone on any of these 8 crossings anytime I have driven through this village.
As touched on by Colin & Elizabeth on my last post on the subject,.the French Code de la Route (the Highway Code) exists to protects pedestrians. The law passed in November 2010 states that any driver has to give right of way, if necessary by stopping, to pedestrians engaged in the crossing of a road or clearly showing the intention to do so. Drivers can be fined €135 and lose 4 points on their license if caught.
However, the rule does not apply less than 50 metres away from the pedestrian crossing.
Now I wonder if the mayors of villages are so zealous re their crossings to protect drivers as they won't have to stop for random pedestrians given the frequency of the crossings, can't think of any other reason,unless they have loads of surplus paint and manpower!
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In my experience standing near a crossing doesn't always work very well. You have to be pretty much walking across before the vehicle stops!
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