RAC reacts to speed limit reductions in France

Reacting to news that the speed limit on some roads in France is due to be reduced, RAC European driving spokesman Simon Williams said:

“Deaths on French roads have increased for three consecutive years and are almost double the number of those seen in the UK so it is clear that action needed to be taken to save lives.

“While the decision to reduce the speed limit from 90km/h to 80km/h (56m/h to 50m/h) on 400,000km of departmental roads in France will not be popular with French motorists, we know from experience in the UK that those roads are responsible for far more deaths than motorways and dual carriageways. We also know that speed is one of the biggest contributory factors in injury accidents.

“How effective this will be very much depends on the level of compliance from motorists and, naturally, the level of police enforcement. There are, of course, accusations from French motoring groups that this is not about road safety at all, but about raising extra money from motorists through fines.

“British drivers visiting France making longer journeys are unlikely to experience too much impact as the majority of those miles will probably be driven on bigger, faster roads. British drivers will, however, clearly have to get used to driving 10mph slower on A and B roads than they would at home otherwise their visits may prove expensive. Arguably, holidaymakers should not be that affected by slower journeys as they should not be in as much of a rush as locals who may well have to get used to slightly longer journey times.”