New data shows that France’s road safety levels stalled for 2022 when compared with 2019. The information has been made available from Frances’s National Interministerial Observatory of Road Safety (Onisr). The report shows that there were 3,267 road fatalities in France during 2022, compared with 3,244 in 2019.
The comparison between these years is significant as 2019 was the year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the drop in traffic levels that occurred in 2020 and 2021 due to travel restrictions. Although there was a drop of 4% in road fatalities between 2019 and 2022, this is not considered significant.
Of note though was that there was an increase in the number of cyclists killed on French roads in 2022 at 245, when compared with the 188 in 2019, an additional 57 fatalities. While 718 people were killed while riding powered two wheelers in France in 2022, this was a drop of 31 compared with 2019.
Also of concern is that 78% of those killed on French roads in 2022 were male. And 84% of those at fault in fatal road crashes were male.
France has made enormous steps in improving road safety over the last decade. Tough measures on DUI and speeding have had a significant effect on cutting road casualties in France.
