How to recognise French road signs for recommended, not obligatory, behaviour
The signs are becoming increasingly used in some areas
Do you know what these road signs mean?
Ernest Rose / Peter Togel / Shutterstock
Some road signs in France signal ‘recommended’ behaviour for motorists, in contrast to the more widely-known signs that indicate mandatory behaviour (such as, say, a red STOP sign).
France’s Code de la route (road laws) already provides for a sign known as ‘C4a’.
This is a square with a white circle and a blue background, or sometimes just a blue square with a white number on it. It indicates the speed at which it is advisable to drive “if circumstances allow, and if the user is not obliged to observe a lower speed specific to the category of vehicle they are driving”
Breaking this recommended limit is not a crime but it could be considered bad or possibly dangerous practice.
The C4a is often installed next to the legal limit signs. For example, while the legal limit may be 30 km/h, the ‘recommendation’ C4a sign may read 20 km/h instead.
While still rare in France, another ‘recommended’ sign - with a blue/green border rather than a red one - is starting to be seen on some roads.
Inspired by blue signs in the UK
The signs are inspired by similar ones in other countries, such as the UK. They are not well-known but are being used increasingly in some areas.
They are often used for speed limits in areas around schools, residential zones, or those that have high numbers of pedestrians, especially children. Sometimes they are used for hazardous roads, such as those with many sharp turns or significant gradients.
They have a blue/green colour instead of the usual red, and indicate recommendations rather than legal requirements.
For example, just as on a normal sign, there would be a coloured border around a white circle, with the speed limit recommendation in the middle in black. But in contrast to a legal speed limit which would have a red border, a ‘recommended’ limit sign would have a blue/green border.
The signs are intended to remind drivers to be more careful and to draw their attention to speed limits and other road rules in a way that the regular signs may not.
UK road law expert Daniel Shensmith said in an interview with L'Automobiliste that the signs “encourage safer driving, even though they are not legally binding”.
