Skip to main content

Drop in French road deaths ‘due to speed cameras’

Figures released by France’s National Council for Road Safety (CNSR) indicate that the number of people killed on French roads dropped by fifteen per cent in the first half of 2013 compared with the same period last year. Interior Minister Manuel Valls said that 257 fewer people had died in road accidents compared with the first six months of 2012. 2012 was also a record year, with an improvement of eight per cent over 2011. “These results are extremely encouraging,” said Valls, who reiterated his
July 15, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Figures released by France’s National Council for Road Safety (CNSR) indicate that the number of people killed on French roads dropped by fifteen per cent in the first half of 2013 compared with the same period last year.

Interior Minister Manuel Valls said that 257 fewer people had died in road accidents compared with the first six months of 2012.  2012 was also a record year, with an improvement of eight per cent over 2011.

“These results are extremely encouraging,” said Valls, who reiterated his ambition to reduce the number of fatalities, 3,645 in the whole of 2012, to 2,000 by 2020.
Speed was the primary cause of fatal accidents, said Valls, who has asked the CNSR to consider introducing aircraft-style black boxes in cars, so that the precise cause of accidents can be established.

A drop of 29.5 per cent in May on the year before was attributed by the CNSR attributed to gloomy weather, the financial crisis which has caused motorists to drive more slowly and the introduction of new speed cameras on French roads.

“Without speed cameras we would not have seen such a reduction,” said Valls, adding that the number of mobile cameras in unmarked cars, which have been subject to huge publicity, would soon rise to 100, adding to the 4,000 fixed radars across France.

Related Content

  • A9 average speed cameras improving road safety
    September 1, 2016
    The latest report by the A9 Safety Group on accident statistics on the A9 in Scotland indicate that there continues to be a sustained improvement in driver behaviour and a corresponding fall in collisions and casualties. The report contains collision and casualty data for the first 18 months of operation of the average speed cameras to 30 April 2016, which is the mid-point of the evaluation period. The other performance data covers the period to 30 June 2016 unless otherwise stated.
  • How typical?
    July 30, 2012
    Deployment of solar-powered LED road studs has provided significant cost benefits whilst reducing KSIs on notorious routes in South Africa. Can these results be replicated in other regions of the world and on less notorious stretches of road? According to Kevin Adams, Astucia's CEO, they can.
  • US motor vehicle deaths drop slightly in first half of 2017, but remain higher than two years ago
    August 17, 2017
    Preliminary estimates from the National Safety Council indicate motor vehicle deaths in the first six months of 2017 are one per cent lower than they were during the same six-month period in 2016. However, it says the country is fresh off the steepest estimated two-year increase in motor vehicle deaths since 1964 and it is too early to conclude whether the upward trend is over. The estimated deaths during the first six months of 2017 still are eight per cent higher than the 2015 six-month estimates, and the
  • USDoT responds to death crash 'crisis' on roads 
    November 4, 2021
    'First-ever' national safety-first roadway strategy comes as 20,160 die in first half of 2021