The official figures have been published today with regards to road fatalities. Remember that France used to have one of the worst accident rates in the world, or at the least in Europe. For a couple of years, the French government has been dramatically reducing deaths and accidents.
Overall 2007 saw a 6th year of reduction in fatalities. 1.9% less to be exact, 4620 people died on the French roads. The reduction is less than the previous year, which was 11.5%, but still, there were less deaths. Accidents without fatalities did increase by 1.2% over the same year.
It used to be speed that killed, but with the implementation of 1000's of digital radars, nowadays alcohol is the main contributing factor. 1031 of the 4620 deaths were caused because of DUIDriving Under Influence. Drinking and driving..
Again, motorcycle riders are the worst off. Motorcycle and scooter riders represent 1.1% of French traffic, but 18% of the total fatalities (this includes mopeds). This is partially due to the increase use of PTWPowered Two Wheel - motorcyles, scooters, mopedss thanks to the fuel crisis. Of course, they don't publish the number of accidents, with and without fatalities. An accident with a motorcycle can turn fatal real quickly. Also, as the MAIDSMotorcycle Accident In-Depth Study - a report issued by the ACEM organization (http://maids.acembike.org/). report has shown, most accidents between a car and motorcycle are caused by the car....
According to the government report, France has the highest risk for motorcycle riders in Europe. Denmark is the best.
It still is bad being a pedestrian in France. The number of deaths increased 4.9%.
| | Reduction | Increase | | Pedestrians | | +4.9% | | Bicycles | -21.5% | | | Mopeds | | +2.5% | | Motorcycles | | +7.9% | | Cars | -6.2% | | | Trucks | -3.4% | |
The way the French government has been trying to reduce the figures is by installing a lot of radars. However, the French driver has gotten used to them (the radars are signposted in advance), so the number of tickets has decreased slightly, -0.2%. However, mobile radars have increased dramatically; +36.4%! So when riding in France, keep a sharp lookout for opposing vehicles flashing their lights...
Click here to read all the figures  (in French)
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