• A report from the Court of Auditors estimates that France has not made progress since 2013 in terms of reducing road fatalities.

  • It has plummeted in ten years from 7th to 14th place in this field at European level.

  • Les Sages recommends several measures to redress the situation, in particular education on measures, the inclusion of local communities in road safety policy, etc.

Over half a century, the progress is impressive: France has gone from 18,000 road deaths in 1972 to 3,500 in 2019. “But since 2013, we have reached a kind of plateau,” said Gilles Andréani, president of the 4th Chamber of the Court of Auditors.

A report by the Sages published on Thursday shows that road mortality has particularly fallen between 2008 and 2013, with the number of deaths per million inhabitants falling from 69.4 to 52.2. It then remained stable at this level. And other indicators worry: "The number of serious injuries increased between 2013 and 2017. And users of motorized two-wheelers, which represent 2% of traffic, constitute 22% of road deaths," says Gilles Andréani. The objective set in 2012 by Manuel Valls to limit the number of road deaths to 2,000 by 2020 has never been achieved. And if we compare France to its neighbors, it is hardly more flattering: “From 7th place in the Europe of the Twenty-eight in 2008, it moved to 14th in 2019,” notes Gilles Andréani.

"Today, the era of big measures is coming to an end"

If the road safety policy no longer allows progress to be made, it is first of all because many measures which concerned the behavior of motorists have already been taken and have borne fruit, the report believes.

“In the past, a measure saved thousands of lives.

Like the obligation of seat belts at the front in 1973 and at the rear in 1990, the introduction of the points license in 1992, or the appearance of speed cameras in 2003. But today, the era major measures are coming to an end, ”analyzes Gilles Andréani.

Admittedly, recently, in 2018, the maximum authorized speed was lowered from 90 to 80 km / h on secondary roads *, but the data on the effectiveness of this measure are still patchy.

Other explanations make it possible to understand the level reached: "The presence of the police on the side of the roads has fallen by 40% since 2008, which has resulted in less control of blood alcohol levels and the use of narcotics. among drivers, ”emphasizes Gilles Andréani. A trend explained by Dominique Antoine, master advisor to the Court of Auditors, "by the other priorities of the police in recent years: the fight against terrorism, the application of security measures linked to the Covid crisis -19 ”. According to Chantal Perrichon, president of the League against road violence, the decline in the effectiveness of the road safety policy is also explained by a lack of political courage: “From 2013, we only had one series. measuring scoops. And apart from the 80 km limitation on the secondary network,nothing more happened ”.

The Sages advocate more law enforcement at the side of the roads

But progress is still possible according to the Wise Men, who plead for a more global approach.

To gain in efficiency, the Court of Auditors suggests that road safety should no longer be managed solely by the Ministry of the Interior, but “that the Ministry of Transport play an increased role in it”.

And this so that more consultation with local authorities is possible, in particular on the installation of radars.

An insufficient measure, according to Chantal Perrichon: "The Road Safety Delegation must depend on the Prime Minister, so that all the ministries are involved: Interior, Health, Education, Transport, Justice".

Setting goals to achieve, like Spain with its goal of “no more dead children on the roads”, also seems essential.

"This would make it possible to involve different actors around a targeted objective, to communicate more precisely on a subject", estimates Christine Camby, general rapporteur of the study of the Court of Auditors.

In this logic, the Wise Men plead for the adoption by Parliament of programs at a fixed periodicity, for example five-year plans, rather than pursuing a selection of measures by the executive.

Better acceptance of measures, an imperative

To get out of "all radar", the Court of Auditors also recommends "a continued presence, active or dissuasive, of the security forces at the side of the roads and in the flow of traffic, in particular on the part of the National Police". Chantal Perrichon believes that it would take “more unmarked police cars on the roads. There are about a hundred; and again, they drive very little ”. It pleads for two even stronger measures: "the ban on the applications of speed camera warning devices and law enforcement, and the installation of Lavia (automatic speed limiter) on vehicles, so that motorists cannot exceed the authorized speeds. "

Last but not least, the Wise Men recommend that the government “seek greater support” from the population on road safety measures.

Because these are often misunderstood, badly accepted and therefore less well respected than if road users understood their meaning.

Example with radars.

“There is still a fantasy that they would be a money pump.

While they report much less to the State (one billion euros in 2019) than what the road safety policy costs (3.7 billion euros in 2019) ”, emphasizes Gilles Andréani.

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Road safety: Points recovery courses are full ... and this is just the beginning

* Since then, part of the territory has returned to 90 km / h

  • Society

  • Court of Audit

  • Government

  • Road accident

  • Road safety