INTERVIEW
The start of the summer holidays was given on Saturday for many French people. The traffic looks dense almost everywhere in France: Bison Futé sees red in the direction of departure. A large crowd is not surprising for the extended weekend of July 14, but it is all the more important this year. "80% of French people recently told us that not only would they spend their holidays in France but also that they would travel by car," said Anne Lavaud, general delegate for road safety, at the microphone of Europe 1.
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"For many French people, the car is the sixth barrier gesture, they feel safe there," she explains. Crossed by Europe 1 on the motorway service area of Limours-Javry, south-west of Paris, Yves confirms: "With the coronavirus, I think it is better to stay in your bubble, by car, rather than taking public transport."
"The French feel safe on the secondary road network ... more accident-prone"
Another trend noted by Anne Lavaud: an unprecedented preference of the French for the secondary road network. "They feel safer from a health point of view when traveling on small country roads," she said. A rather "worrying" preference from the point of view of road safety. "This network accumulates 62% of mortality, while we are far below in terms of traffic. By comparison on motorways we have 25% of traffic and 8% of mortality," she said.
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Anne Lavaud calls to remember to adopt the right reflexes: a break every two hours and a light lunch so as not to doze while driving. "Today, there are still nine killed a day on the roads of France, and seven times more seriously injured. It is a trauma that can be avoided."