Driving in France (Brittany, Normandy, & Vendee) - 23 June 2024

Driving in a foreign country can be intimidating.  As Americans, we tend to assume it is the same "over there" as it is "over here".  While this is generally true, there are some specific exceptions.  This list is based on my experience in 2020-2024 and should not be taken as legal advice.  I choose not to drive in Paris, so the rules and conventions may be different there.  These comments are not exhaustive and your mileage my vary.  Stay alert.

Metric.  Of course, all the units are metric - kilometers per hour (km/h, sometimes "clicks"), kilometers (km, sometimes "clicks"), and meters (m).  Speed limits are posted in km/h, usually a multiple of ten.  The gauges in the car are in the same units, so conversion is not required, but as an American, I like to think in terms of miles, so I take the value in km and drop the last digit, then multiple by six and round up to a multiple of five.  For example, 70 km/h becomes 7 * 6, giving 42 and rounding up to 45;  100 km/h becomes 10 * 6, giving 60 mph.  

Roundabouts.  In Boston, these are called rotaries but we call them roundabouts in the Pacific Northwest.  They are beloved structures in France (outside Paris) to the point that traffic lights are relatively rare and there are very few STOP signs.  On various errands, I would barely touch my brakes while covering 35 km because everything was a rotary rather than a STOP sign or traffic light.  There are two key tricks for rotaries - entry and exit.

Rotary entry is a merge process.  You wan to avoid stopping; instead, adjust your entry speed so that you fit into traffic.  In rush hour, this may not be possible and you will stop to wait for an entry, but mostly you will slow a bit to merge into the flowing traffic.  That is it - other drivers expect it and will be surprised (unpleasantly) should you stop.

Rotary exit can be confusing, so stay alert.  The first thing is to know which exit you want.  Larger rotaries will have five or more roads meeting, so you may want an exit other than a right angle (right, straight, left).  Some rotaries also have blocked exits (these do not count) or exits for special purposes like maintenance or parking lots (especially park-and-ride lots), and these do count.  When I say "count", your GPS (or navigator) should tell you which exit number you want.  For example, "second exit" is often the equivalent of straight through.  In another style, my wife and I would talk about "virtual left" meaning to take the exit around 270 degrees, which could be more or fewer than the third exit.  

While many rotaries are effectively a single lane, there are larger rotaries with two entrance, travel, and exit lanes and people will use all the lanes.  When you enter a rotary in a two-lane entry, keep to your lane:  right lane to the outer lane and left land to the center lane.  Be alert for someone traveling on your left who wants to exit - let them in.  It helps to signal your intentions - signal left to stay in the rotary and signal right when you are going to take the next exit.  

Tolls.  The major roads, Routes National or N-number roads, will likely have tolls and some smaller roads may, too, as well as larger bridges.  France has an automated toll system and your rental car my have a transponder; check with the agent when you pick up the car.  Cars with transponders can use the lanes marked for "e" or "EZ", typically to the left side of the block of toll booths.  If you want to pay in cash, the marked lanes are typically to the right.  The lanes in the middle are for payment by credit cards, and these allow "contactless" (aka "tap") if your card is capable.  Sometimes there are special lanes to the far right for trucks, so stay out of their way. My experience is that the contactless lanes happily accept Apple Pay and Google Wallet, either from a phone or from a smartwatch.  

Toll tickets.  As you enter a Route National, you will probably pick up a ticket at the booth.  As you exit the Route National, you will insert the ticket, then present payment (e.g., contactless card).  In another style, you will simply pay a fixed toll at a toll booth, but there will still be EZ, card, and cash lanes.

Speed limits.  Speed limits on the N-number roads tend to be 130 km/h, but this varies and can be as low as 100-110 km/h, and the exit speeds are closer to 70 km/h.  Speed limits on mid-sized roads are usually around 100 km/h and speed limits on the smaller roads are 80-90 km/h, varying.  As the mid and smaller roads enter towns, the speed limits will drop quickly to about 70 km/h and then down to 50 km/h.  These are typical speed limits and you should always check the posted speeds.  

Speeding tickets.  Many towns are equipped with traffic cameras that will record your license plate number and speed.  If you are speeding, the Republique Francaise will send you an Avis de Contravention - a speeding ticket.  The report (ticket) will tell you when and where the contravention happened and what the infraction was, such as "exces de vitesse" for speeding, a parking ticket, etc.  This will cost you a fine, conveniently payable by credit card.  The rental car company will also send you a letter explaining that they were contacted by the government to ask for information about the registered driver(s).  The rental car will charge you for this contact using the payment information on record (fees vary, but expect euro 40-50).  There are many variables to determine the cost of a speeding ticket, but expect euro 45-180, depending on how quickly you pay and how fast you were going.

So there you have some thoughts on driving in France.

Jury Duty Across the Years - 20 June 2024

I have had several calls for jury duty in multiple states across multiple decades.  My early jury duty was in Chicago in the 1980s, then there was a long blank period in Massachusetts, and then three calls to jury duty in Washington.  Each of them contributed to my understanding of the legal process in the United States.  Although not entirely pleasant, I strongly recommend that everyone serve on a jury duty at some time in their life, earlier if possible.

The first jury duty call was in metro Chicago.  Chicago had a one-day-one trial jury process.  We reported for jury duty for one day, and if not empaneled onto a jury, we were done.  If we were empaneled, we served for one case.  

For this case, we waited in a pool for the morning and were released for lunch.  When we came back from lunch at 1pm, we were told that the defendant had accepted a plea deal and we were dismissed.  Evidently this is common.

The second jury duty call in Chicago was for a drug case.  I was put on a jury for a drug case.  A defendant had been found in a basement apartment, fleeing from police officers.  An officer came into the room to see the defendant sitting on the bed in skimpy clothing (I no longer recall the details, but "underwear and a man's shirt" would not be too far off).  Searching the room, the officer found a syringe in the wastebasket.  The officer arrested the woman on drug possession charges.   A lab report (submitted in evidence) later confirmed the presence of an illicit drug on the syringe.  The officer told the jury that the defendant must have been holding the syringe when the cops burst in, she dashed to her bedroom and tossed the syringe into the wastebasket.

Complication #1: The officer did not see the syringe or any drugs in the hands of the defendant, and she testified that the drugs belonged to her boyfriend (not present at the time of the arrest).  

Complication #2: her fingerprints were not on the syringe.

If convicted, this would be the third drug conviction for the defendant and she would be sent to prison for a long, long time (10 years or longer).

The officer told the jury that a group of officers were responding to a report of domestic violence when they came across the defendant.  When she ran, they chased her into the basement apartment.

Complication #3:  The defendant did not live at the address associated with the domestic violence.  The police were at the wrong address. 

Given a choice of conviction or release, the jury did not find enough evidence of a crime by the defendant.  

The next jury duty call was in Massachusetts.  The MA rules were for two-days-one-trial and my first day in the pool was uneventful.  I was selected on the second day for a workman's compensation case.  A man working as a plasterer was standing on a moveable scaffold when it collapsed, injuring the man.  He had been studying to become a mycologist, and the injury meant that he was incapable of performing the physical duties of raising mushrooms (hefting heavy bags of compost, etc.).  The man was suing the scaffold company for lost wages and lost opportunities.  Each side brought in witnesses and experts to present their story.  The dueling experts were professors, one explaining that the caster would fail in a way to cause the injury, and the other explaining that the caster failing could not happen without damage to the caster (therefore the scaffolding company would not be liable and someone else would be).  Everyone agreed that the accident happened and that a failed caster contributed; the question was the cause and timing of the failure of the caster and the answer would point to a different party.  Some miscellaneous facts that I recall:  the scaffold was discarded after it failed and the claimant had to return to the worksite to pull it from the on-site garbage pile; there was no chain of custody of the scaffold;  and the casters were to be inspected each day before use by the workmen before they used the scaffold.  

It was a hung jury split down the middle, six and six.  We were told after the trial that the injured workman had already been covered for medical expenses under Workman's Compensation (fund, laws).  We were not told this and only presented with a question of liability and the damages (if any) were to be based on liability and lost income.  This was also the second trial; the first trial had also resulted in a hung jury.  I do not know if the workman went for a third trial.  

I was called for jury duty since then, but my wife received the call and explained that I had just served for a week of jury duty withn the year, and the clerk marked by records so that I would be exempted for two years.  That was twenty years ago and I have not been called since.

As citizens, we have few formal duties.  Follow the laws, vote, and serve on juries.  Service on a jury gives deep and personal insight into how the laws are applied and how citizens are deprived of their liberty.  We should each welcome jury duty.