The road accident rate in France looks to be on the increase as a result of changes in laws, which have softened penalties for offences. The latest report from France's national crime observatory, 3031 ONDRP, shows that numbers of serious driving offences are increasing in the country. For several years now France has been able to reduce its road accident rate, with much tougher enforcement having been a noted factor. However, a weakening of the laws regarding the points system for driving licenses is thought to be a major factor in the increase in driving offences and road deaths. The changes have not affected regulations for more serious driving offences though. The ONDRP report says that in January and February 2011, the number of drink or drug driving offences grew 16.42% compared with the previous year, while speeding offences jumped 55.75%, while incidences of driving without a licence climbed 19.16%. The number of deaths on the road also rose sharply, up 21.2% in January and 7.5% in February. The ONDRP has said that this is an inevitable result of the change in law and that it will now be difficult to reduce the number of roads deaths below 3,000 per annum by 2012 as planned by the French Government.
