Skip to main content

French road deaths down 11% in 2013, compared to previous year

The number of road deaths in France last year fell by 11% to 3,250, 403 fewer than in 2012. Revealing the figures, Minister of the Interior Manuel Valls said they were the lowest number since the first national road death statistics were recorded in 1948. Deaths of 18-24 year olds on French roads during 2013 were down 10% year-on-year, with road deaths of car occupants down 14%. Deaths of cyclists on French roads were down 8%, pedestrian road deaths fell by 7% and 3% fewer motorcyclists were killed on the
January 22, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
The number of road deaths in France last year fell by 11% to 3,250, 403 fewer than in 2012.

Revealing the figures, Minister of the Interior Manuel Valls said they were the lowest number since the first national road death statistics were recorded in 1948. Deaths of 18-24 year olds on French roads during 2013 were down 10% year-on-year, with road deaths of car occupants down 14%. Deaths of cyclists on French roads were down 8%, pedestrian road deaths fell by 7% and 3% fewer motorcyclists were killed on the roads. The two main causes of deadly accidents were speed (25%) and alcohol (20%).

For the Automobile Club Association, this decrease is due to good driver behaviour. Minister Valls wants efforts to encourage good driver behaviour to continue so that less than 2,000 people die on roads by 2020. He did not announce new measures but promised to continue communication campaigns notably aimed at young people and to update radars. Finally, he sent back decisions to an inter-ministerial committee on road safety that will be held in mid-2014. The Road Prevention Association wants measures on speed, alcohol and telephoning while driving and information for motorcyclists, pedestrians and cyclists.

Related Content

  • Rise in road deaths in France and Germany for start of 2014
    June 2, 2014
    The latest official data from France and Germany reveals a worrying increase in road related fatalities for the first quarter of 2014. This follows a period of several years in which the casualty statistics have improved. The preliminary figures from Germany's Federal Statistics Office, Destatis, reveal that the number of people killed road traffic crashes in Germany rose by 4.2% to 640 in the first quarter of 2014 compared to the same period in the previous year.
  • UK death rate not falling fast enough in The Reported Road Casualties Great Britain Report 2013
    September 26, 2014
    Road safety lobby groups have criticised Britain for pushing down its annual road fatality rate by a further 2% in the past year, the lowest figure since records began in 1926. The Reported Road Casualties Great Britain 2013 (RRCGB) Annual Report, published in September 2014, reveals that 1,713 people were killed in road accidents in the country during 2013, with the number of people seriously injured down by 6% to 21,657 versus 2012.
  • IAM welcomes drop in UK road deaths, but concerned over drink-drive casualties
    August 2, 2013
    The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), Britain’s largest independent road safety charity, has welcomed new UK Department for Transport (DfT) road casualty figures showing a fall in the amount of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents. The DfT reports there were 1, 680 people killed in the year ending March 2013, 10% reduction from 1, 870 in the year ending March 2012. The number of people killed or seriously injured also fell to 23, 660, a 6% decrease.
  • Road deaths continue to fall in many countries
    June 4, 2015
    The latest information from IRTAD, the permanent working group on road safety at the International Transport Forum, shows that road deaths are falling in many countries worldwide. There were 42% fewer road deaths in IRTAD countries since 2000. However, strong disparities exist between countries, according to IRTAD’s latest data. In all 70 organisations from 39 countries are members of IRTAD. The 2014 provisional data show that 15 of the IRTAD member countries for which figures are available managed to red