French road toll hits all-time low months after speed limit lowered

Some analysts said the speed limit was the initial catalyst for the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) movement. Photo / AP

Road deaths in mainland France have hit an all-time low just six months after the Government introduced a controversial new 80km/h speed limit, it has been announced.

But with anger from "yellow vests" mounting nationwide over the new restrictions - leading to 60 per cent of the country's speed traps being damaged or destroyed - the Prime Minister conceded that demands to row back on the limits were "legitimate" in some cases.

Last year, about 3250 people were killed in road traffic accidents in mainland France, nine fewer than the previous "record" in 2013.

The fall came after three consecutive years of rising death tolls between 2014 and 2016 - an unprecedented spike since 1972, followed by a 2017 plateau.

The rise prompted the Government to cut speed limits on 400,000km of two-way roads with no median strip from 90km/h to 80km/h last July. That sparked howls of disapproval from automobile groups, who said the measure was another way to fleece motorists via speed traps.

Some analysts said the speed limit was the initial catalyst for the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) movement.

Announcing the road deaths drop, Edouard Philippe, the Prime Minister, said the effects of the new restrictions were "without ambiguity" and that 116 lives had been saved because of them.

"We took a decision that we knew was unpopular," he said. "We are proud of the results, of the lives saved."

But 40 Millions d'Automobilistes, a French drivers' organisation, pointed out that road deaths had already started to fall at the start of 2018 before the speed limit cut was implemented. In a nod to anger over the restrictions, Philippe said it was "legitimate to discuss the issue" in the "great debate" launched by Macron in a bid to defuse the gilets jaunes revolt.