Road mortality increased very slightly in France in 2019 with 3,498 people killed, ten more than in 2018, the least deadly year ever recorded, according to a final report released on Tuesday.
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The very slight drop in mortality on the roads of mainland France (3,244 deaths, -0.1%) is offset by the increase in deaths in Overseas France (254 deaths, + 5.8%). The other indicators, such as the number of people injured and the number of bodily accidents, are up slightly in mainland France.
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"The analysis of accident factors confirms the role of excessive or inappropriate speed as the primary cause of fatal accidents," said Road Safety in a press release. The year 2019 was notably marked by a drop in mortality outside the built-up area and outside the motorways with 72 lives saved (-4%), especially among motorists (-24 killed), bikers (-20 killed) and pedestrians ( -19 killed). "90% of this network is made up of roads on which the maximum authorized speed was lowered to 80 km / h on July 1, 2018," notes Road Safety.
Back to 90 km / h
This measure, unpopular with the elected officials of certain municipalities and conspired by the "yellow vests" , can be the subject of derogations since the end of December and the promulgation of the mobility law. Since the beginning of the year, several departments such as Creuse, Cantal and this Tuesday Loir-et-Cher, have started to return to 90 km / h. In urban areas, mortality increased by 8% compared to 2018 (+74 killed), first affecting bikers (+27 killed) and pedestrians (+22 killed). Motorways, where mortality has dropped 55% since 2000, had fewer deaths in 2019 than in 2018 (-2%).
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According to the regions, the realities are very contrasted with a strong increase in road mortality in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (+ 16.8%) and a significant decrease in Île-de-France (-13.3%).
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