Skip to main content

Concern at France’s crash rate

Concern is being expressed in France at the increase in the country’s road fatality rate. Data shows that for August 2015, the number of people killed on roads in the country rose 9.5% compared to August 2014. This increase in road fatalities continues the worrying trend seen earlier in the year. During the first eight months of 2015, the number of people killed on French roads was 2,253, an increase of 99 over the same period in 2014. This increase in the death rate comes after several year of reducing the
September 14, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Concern is being expressed in France at the increase in the country’s road fatality rate. Data shows that for August 2015, the number of people killed on roads in the country rose 9.5% compared to August 2014. This increase in road fatalities continues the worrying trend seen earlier in the year. During the first eight months of 2015, the number of people killed on French roads was 2,253, an increase of 99 over the same period in 2014. This increase in the death rate comes after several year of reducing the road casualty statistics in France. Tougher measures against speeding and drink driving in particular have had success in cutting the country’s previously high road death rate by a considerable margin. It is not clear what factors have been instrumental in increasing the road death rate in France and research is being carried out at present to identify the primary issues so that new measures can be introduced to reverse the trend.

Related Content

  • TISPOL: drink driving continues to be a pan-European concern
    January 18, 2016
    Drink-drive enforcement still has issues in Europe, according to pan-European police body TISPOL Drink-driving is the cause of around 5,000 road deaths in Europe. In the UK alone, it is estimated that 230 (14%) of the country’s 1,713 road deaths are due to drinking and driving. For England, Wales and Northern Ireland the limit for driving is still 80mg (0.8) of alcohol/100ml of blood. Scotland reduced its limit to 50mg (0.5) of alcohol/100ml of blood in December 2014, bringing it into line with most
  • Increase in German car crashes cause for concern
    August 27, 2014
    The fatality rate on Germany’s road network increased in the first half of 2014, compared with the same period last year. The preliminary figures from Germany's Federal Statistics Office, Destatis, show an increase in road deaths of 9.5% to 1,576 for the first six months of 2014. The level of injuries also rose by 10.6% to around 185,600 while the number of crashes in which people were injured rose 11.4% to 144,600. Overall however, the number of crashes dropped by 1.2% to 1.15 million. The reason for the i
  • Road safety concerns for France and Portugal following increased crashes
    August 18, 2015
    There is concern in France and Portugal following the publication of data showing increases in road deaths. Both countries have been highly effective in recent years in reducing road deaths and injuries following campaigns to crack down on speeding and drink driving. The recent increases in deaths and injuries from road crashes have been of major concern as a result.
  • UK Government must show “much greater leadership” on road safety
    August 20, 2012
    A leading road safety campaigner has urged the UK government to show “much greater leadership” on the issue after new Department for Transport (DfT) figures revealed a rise in pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists killed or seriously injured on Britain’s roads. The number of cyclists killed or seriously injured (KSI) on UK roads between April 1 and June 30, 2012 rose 13% to 700, compared to 621 over the same three months of 2011.