koody.Practise on Koody
Other Road Users5 min read

Vehicles of general interest

Priority or benefiting from a right of way: how to react to emergency vehicles.

Updated 13 June 2026

What this lesson covers

Three categories to distinguish

Priority vehicles

How to react to a priority vehicle

Vehicles benefiting from a right of way

Service vehicles

Summary of signals

Recap

  • 6 categories of priority vehicles: police, gendarmerie, fire brigade, SAMU, SMUR, customs.
  • Priority only when the flashing blue light + two-tone siren are activated.
  • Let the priority vehicle pass by stopping or moving aside, with hazard lights on.
  • On fast roads: do not change lane and do not brake suddenly.
  • Right of way (ambulances, on-call doctors, etc.): flashing blue light + three-tone siren.
  • Right of way does not mean priority: facilitate passage without breaking the rules.
  • Service vehicles (yellow flashing light): neither priority nor right of way, but caution is required.
  • Exception: it is forbidden to overtake snow-clearing vehicles during operations.

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Sources: Sécurité routière (securite-routiere.gouv.fr) and service-public.fr.