Concern at France’s crash rate

Concern is being expressed in France at the increase in the country’s road fatality rate. Data shows that for August 2015, the number of people killed on roads in the country rose 9.5% compared to August 2014. This increase in road fatalities continues the worrying trend seen earlier in the year. During the first eight months of 2015, the number of people killed on French roads was 2,253, an increase of 99 over the same period in 2014. This increase in the death rate comes after several year of reducing the road casualty statistics in France. Tougher measures against speeding and drink driving in particular have had success in cutting the country’s previously high road death rate by a considerable margin. It is not clear what factors have been instrumental in increasing the road death rate in France and research is being carried out at present to identify the primary issues so that new measures can be introduced to reverse the trend.