Skip to main content

France to reduce national speed limit?

The French government is considering lowering the national speed limit from 130km/h to 120km/h on motorways and from 90km/h to 80km/h on roads. The move, being led by Minister of the Interior Manuel Valls, comes after the recent announcement of a drop in the number of deaths on roads in France during the first half of 2013.
July 15, 2013 Read time: 1 min
The French government is considering lowering the national speed limit from 130km/h to 120km/h on motorways and from 90km/h to 80km/h on roads.

The move, being led by Minister of the Interior Manuel Valls, comes after the recent announcement of a drop in the number of deaths on roads in France during the first half of 2013.

Valls has said that he wants to see the number of roads deaths fall below 2,000 a year by 2020. Speed limits may also be further reduced in cities.

A full set of formal proposals are due to be unveiled by Valls this autumn.

Related Content

  • China looks to the future with major highway plans
    February 15, 2012
    China is still moving ahead with plans that will give it the world's biggest highway system. Patrick Smith reports. As China's economy grows even more, keeping the country on the move has become a priority for the government. While the country has made great strides over the past decade in improving its infrastructure, the number of vehicles has also increased rapidly, and in some instances restrictions have been placed on them.
  • Tackling Europe’s urban road safety problems
    June 12, 2019
    Urban road safety is a key problem in Europe, an issue that needs to be addressed as a priority. That is the finding of a new report by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC). The ETSC’s report reveals that road deaths on urban roads decreased at around half the rate of those on rural roads over the period 2010-2017. The report also shows that vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, account for 70% of those killed and seriously injured on urban roads. Dovilė Adminaitė-
  • Europe’s road safety figures disappoint
    March 28, 2017
    Europe’s road safety is failing to improve despite a string of measures introduced in recent years. The European Commission has published new data showing that deaths on EU roads fell by just 2% last year. This followed a 1% increase in road deaths during 2015. According to ETSC analysis, road deaths will now need to fall by 11.5%/year in order to meet the EU target of cutting deaths by half in the decade to 2020. Commenting on the publication of the latest figures, Antonio Avenoso, Executive Directo
  • Mexico: OHL to bid for La Raza-Indios Verdes-Santa Clara contract
    June 22, 2015
    OHL Mexico, a subsidiary of Spanish construction firm OHL, has confirmed it will bid for the construction and operation contract for Mexico’s La Raza-Indios Verdes-Santa Clara motorway. The 9.5km road worth around US$364 million will be let as a public-private partnership under the federal government’s National Infrastructure Programme, Mexico’s El Economista newspaper reported. A total of 14 companies are interested in the project, including Pinfra, Ideal, Prodemex, China Harbour Engineering Mexico