Skip to main content

French road safety improvement

An improvement is being seen in French road safety figures. This positive change follows a reduction in speed limits on secondary roads from 90km/h to 80km/h. The speed limit reduction was introduced on 1st July 2018 and is estimated to have reduced the fatality rate by around 116. During 2018, there were 3,259 road deaths in France, a drop of 5.5% from 2017. Similarly, the number of people requiring hospital treatment following road crashes dropped by 25%. The speed reduction has faced criticism from driv
February 1, 2019 Read time: 1 min
An improvement is being seen in French road safety figures. This positive change follows a reduction in speed limits on secondary roads from 90km/h to 80km/h. The speed limit reduction was introduced on 1st July 2018 and is estimated to have reduced the fatality rate by around 116. During 2018, there were 3,259 road deaths in France, a drop of 5.5% from 2017. Similarly, the number of people requiring hospital treatment following road crashes dropped by 25%.


The speed reduction has faced criticism from drivers however and may be revised. Cutting speeds on secondary roads has been considered of key importance for boosting safety as many of these are two lane routes with one lane in either direction with a greater risk of head-on collisions due to poor overtaking or loss of control.

Related Content

  • Road safety concern for Portugal, Norway, Czech Republic, Bulgaria
    September 11, 2024
    Road safety is seeing worrying standards for Portugal, Norway, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.
  • French road safety issues
    August 10, 2020
    French road safety issues are still a cause for concern.
  • The US needs to address its road safety problems
    November 8, 2019
    The US has serious road safety issues that need to be addressed. In 2018, close to 36,600 people were killed in road crashes, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The fatality rate for 2018 represents a 2.4% drop from 2017. In addition, the road death rate/160 million vehicle km traveled also decreased by 3.4%, from 1.17 in 2017 to 1.13 in 2018. And the NHTSA says it is the lowest fatality rate since 2014. Nearly 36,600 people died on US roadways last year, a
  • Reduced road casualty rates for EU 27 nations
    December 5, 2013
    Road safety continues to improve in Europe, with official statistics for 2012 showing a drop in fatalities of 2,661 compared with the figures for 2011. The latest data from Pan-European police body TISPOL shows an encouraging trend towards better road safety, highlighting improvements right across the EU. In 2012, a total of 27,700 people were killed in road crashes in the European Union’s 27 member states, equivalent to 55 people/million inhabitants. This was the lowest road fatality rate so far recorded s