Between progressive deconfinement and movement restrictions, it must be recognized that June was a special month on the roads. An epidemic context reflected by the fall in road mortality by 29.1% in June in mainland France.
According to Road Safety figures, some 207 people died on the roads, compared to 292 in June 2019, i.e. 85 people killed in fewer. The month of May was also marked by a drop in mortality (-15.6%), in a context of limited resumption of travel, especially professional travel, after the confinement imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Falling youth mortality
The number of bodily injuries also decreased in June (-21.1%), going to 4,132 against 5,235 in June 2019. Same trend concerning the number of injured (5,356), with a decrease of 19.7%, or 1,315 less injured people.
This drop particularly concerns motorists (-33 killed) and motorcyclists (-28 killed), and also affects Overseas. Mortality among young people aged 18-24 is down (-34 killed) while that of seniors remains stable in June 2020 compared to June 2019.
Summer, the season of all dangers
The months of March and April, during which the French were confined, had been marked by a spectacular drop in road mortality, with 39.6% fewer people died in March and 55.8% in April. "Road mortality in the second quarter of 2020 is strongly marked by the Covid-19 crisis," said Road Safety, which estimates that mortality in the months of confinement fell by 63%, compared to the average for same periods between 2015 and 2019.
However, during the summer months, the weekly toll of the number of people killed on the roads of France can double and pass on average from 45 in winter to 95 in summer, she warns.
And "because of the Covid-19 health crisis, the French should favor the use of cars to get to their vacation spots, mainly in France," said the organization, which calls for vigilance and to caution. In 2018, 574 people lost their lives on the roads of France during the summer period (July and August) and 12,318 were injured, of which 5,176 had to be hospitalized.
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- Road mortality
- Confinement
- Society
- Road safety