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Specifically when the road they are crossing has bicycle signs on it, such as this crossing in Versailles:

enter image description here

The road going horizontally (left-right) on the picture is a normal road (for cars) and the one vertical (with the people walking) is a bike path (yes, despite people walking on it - it is better than the parallel one for pedestrians, on the left, on the other side of the green band).

While this picture depicts a specific crossing, the question is general for crossing of road/bike roads where there are bicycle markings (bike logos) on the crossing.

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  • That's a warning for pedestrians that bikes are crossing. Pedestrians typically need to give priority when they cross a street (unless it's a zebra crossing).
    – Aganju
    Sep 10, 2018 at 12:09
  • In particular it seems to be a warning that the crossing path have cyclists going in both direction. (Perhaps some pedestrians might reflexively only look left when stepping out, expecting that the traffic in the other direction is on the lane we see in the distance).
    – hmakholm left over Monica
    Sep 10, 2018 at 12:36
  • @Aganju: I updated my question with some details, the horizontal road is for cars, the vertical one for bikes)
    – WoJ
    Sep 10, 2018 at 12:39
  • @HenningMakholm: I updated my question with some details, the horizontal road is for cars, the vertical one for bikes)
    – WoJ
    Sep 10, 2018 at 12:39
  • I spent a week bicycling in France this summer and was also mostly confused by the signage and road markings. I have for example no idea what these creative white and blue road markings at a crossing in Tours are supposed to mean. There is no dedicated bicycle path nearby: google.de/maps/@47.3913983,0.6976579,3a,64.2y,349h,83.47t/…
    – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo
    Sep 10, 2018 at 16:17

2 Answers 2

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No. Only pedestrians have priority in France when crossing a road. (French Highway Code: R415-11 [fr]).

Bike logos are intended to raise attention to other drivers.

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  • Thanks. Also R415-14 mentions that the bike path is to be treated as a road, so all priority measures apply.
    – WoJ
    Sep 10, 2018 at 13:30
  • but this is rather not bike path as it's not properly indicated; this is rather just paved road which happened someone painted bikes on crossing the real road; bike path needs proper vertical signs to be bike path
    – Marian Paździoch
    Apr 8, 2019 at 11:59
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France has best traffic signs for vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians. Usually when there is no traffic sign then the general rule is slower moving object has priority. So pedestrians always have priority over cyclists, and cyclists over vehicles...BUT only when there is no traffic sign yet installed at a location or in less crowded areas like rural roads. In your picture the path going up the pic is only for pedestrians as the sign partially hidden behind tree shows NO CYCLISTS. However, in France due to narrow streets and congested traffic, usually drivers ignore pedestrians standing by on sidewalk to cross street even on marked crosswalks and do not stop at all and more amazing is while pedestrians have priority they hesitate for a long period avoiding stepping on marked crosswalk to cross. Drivers explain their action: if I stop suddenly the car behind me hit my car and I hit the pedestrian so it is safe to pass until it is clear for pedestrian to cross!!! What a stupid reasoning. In Canada drivers stop way back the marked crossing even when 1 or 2 pedestrians standing on sidewalk at marked crosswalks but not intend to cross the street!

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  • Sorry, but this is incorrect. 1. the legal article provided in mouviciel's answer (+ the one in my comment) show that there is nothing special about cyclists and their priority. 2. the path going up the pic is for bicycles, not pedestrians. The one for pedestrians is on the left (this is Avenue de Paris in Versailles if you are curious). 3. France is big and there are places with narrow roads and places with wide roads; places with congested traffic and places without any. 4. I have never heard of your explanation about not stopping at zebras, do you have any source for that?
    – WoJ
    Sep 11, 2018 at 6:49

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