- Departments can now return to 90 km / h on certain axes of their secondary network. Haute-Marne has just done so.
- If many departments had signaled their intention to return to 90 km / h, caution seems to be in order today.
- Some elected officials fear in particular that their criminal responsibility could be engaged in the event of an accident, if it is proven that the return to 90 km / h played a role.
Will Haute-Marne be emulated? The department announced on Thursday that it had returned to 90 km / h on part of its departmental roads, instead of 80 km / h. The Law on Orientation of Mobilities (LOM), promulgated on December 26, opening the door to this possibility. A decision that the chairman LR of the departmental council, Nicolas Lacroix, justifies by his fear that his citizens end up losing a lot of points because of small speeding: "Losing his license is risking losing his job", a he declared. But also because according to him, "in the department, we have not seen any improvement in terms of accidentology since the return to 80 km / h".
In the rest of France, the limitation to 80 km / h on secondary roads, decided in July 2018 by the Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, has also been the source of strong protests. And last July, according to a survey by France Inter, which scrutinized the statements of the presidents of departmental councils on the subject, at least 63 departments said they were favorable to the return of 90 km / h. "But gradually, fewer and fewer departments have declared themselves ready," notes Anne Lavaud, general delegate of the Prévention Routière association. According to a last AFP census from 87 departments in mainland France, there are ultimately only 25 (Cantal, Côte-d'Or, Corrèze, Haute-Saône, Loir-et-Cher, Lozère, Orne, Maine-et-Loire, Tarn, etc.) who intend to have part of the roads ironed at 90 km / h. "And this in part to please voters, municipal officials approaching," said Chantal Perrichon, president of the League against road violence.
A turnaround not easy to operate
If Haute-Marne is the only department to have already pressed the button, it is first of all because this return is not so simple and comes with several conditions. "If the department wishes to revise the authorized speed upwards, this decision must take the form of a reasoned decree from the president of the Departmental Council. In addition, it can only intervene after the opinion of the Departmental Road Safety Commission, on the basis of an accident study relating to each of the road sections affected by the exemption, "explains the Assembly of Departments of France (ADF) in a press release.
In addition, the CNSR (National Road Safety Council) recommended in June that this return to 90 km / h be made on departmental portions of more than 10 km, comprising no intersection or bus stop, being not used by agricultural machinery and where overtaking is prohibited. "The departments are currently studying the technical and financial feasibility of this measure," says the ADF. This partly explains why they are not more numerous to have opted for the return to the 90s.
Fear of prosecution
The reluctance of some departments to increase speed has another explanation, according to Chantal Perrichon: "The presidents of departmental councils do not want to be accused of having made a dangerous decision that could cost lives". Anne Lavaud also underlines this legal risk: "Their responsibility could be engaged in the case of accidents which took place on roads at 90 km / h and in which the speed would be called into question", she indicates. In January, Edouard Philippe had put the heads of the Departmental Councils before their responsibilities: "These are decisions that are heavy and that we must assume in conscience".
The moderate enthusiasm to go back to 90 km / h is also explained by their better knowledge of accidentology, according to Anne Lavaud: "The fact of working with the departmental road safety commissions has enabled some presidents of departmental councils to climb in skills on the subject, ”she says. "And the figures from the National Interministerial Observatory for Road Safety showing that 206 lives were saved thanks to 80 km / h had to play", adds Chantal Perrichon.
Finally, ironing roads at 90 km / h entails costs which are dissuasive for certain departments. Doing so over 1,000 kilometers would therefore require the installation of approximately 780 signs, or an amount of 333,000 euros. It remains to be seen whether the citizens of these hesitant departments will increase the pressure on the subject, which was one of the demands of the "yellow vests".
Society
Haute-Marne: "Here, the car is life" ... Return of 90 km / h on certain departments
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Why do departments decide to abandon 80 km / h to return to 90 km / h on certain roads?
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