Road safety stabilises in France in 2016

France has seen its road deaths stabilise during 2016, with only a slight increase over 2015. During 2016 there were 3,477 road deaths, an increase of only 16 over the figure for 2015, just 0.46% more. However, injuries from road crashes increased by 2.6% in 2016 to 72,645 when compared with the previous year. This represents an improvement over the last three years as 2015 saw road deaths increase 2.2% over 2014, while 2014 saw a growth in road fatalities of 3.5% over 2013. The figures come from France’s National Inter-ministerial Office of Road Safety (ONISR).

Of concern however are the worsening casualty rates amongst vulnerable road users. There were 559 pedestrians killed in 2016, an increase of 19% from 2015, while there 162 deaths of cyclists, an increase of 9% from the previous year. Road deaths for vehicle occupants dropped by 2%, however.

Of note is the fact that 20% of motorists killed in crashes were not wearing a seatbelt at the time of impact, while 4% of motorcyclists killed were either not wearing a helmet or had not secured it correctly.
Also of note is how road deaths have dropped over time in France. Road fatalities climbed throughout the 1960s and hit a peak of 16,545 in 1972, dropping to 15,649 in 1973. From then on the country’s road fatality rate has dropped more or less year-by-year until levelling out in 2014.