*Country Profile

FranceROAD SAFETY

This document is part of a series of 30 country profiles: one for each Member Stateof the EU 27 and three EFTA countries (Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland). The
purpose of this series is to provide an overview of the road safety situation in a specificcountry.
Contract:

This document has been prepared in the framework of the EC
Service Contract MOVE/C2/SER/2022-55/SI2.888215 with
National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), SWOV Institutefor Road Safety Research and Kuratorium für Verkehrssicherheit(KFV).

VersionFebruary 8, 2024

AuthorKaterina Folla, Konstantinos Kaselouris (NTUA)Internal Reviewer:

Ingrid van Schangen, Govert Schermers (SWOV)

Referencing:

Reproduction of this document is allowed with due
acknowledgement. Please refer to the document as follows:
European Commission (2023), Country Profile France. Road
SafetyObservatory.
Brussels,
EuropeanCommission,
Directorate General for Transport.

Disclaimer
Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that the matter presented in thisdocument is relevant, accurate and up to date, the (sub)contractors cannot accept
any liability for any error or omission, or reliance on part or all of the content inanother context.
Any information and views set out in this document are those of the author(s) and do
not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Commission. The
Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this study.
Neither the Commission nor any person acting on the Commission’s behalf may beheld responsible for the use that may be made of the information contained therein.
© European Commission, 2023.The EU does not own the copyright in relation to thefollowing elements:- Cover page photos, © www.shutterstock.com

C ount ry Profi leFranceContents
1.

Highlights ........................................................................... 4

2.

Road Safety Outcomes ......................................................... 5

3.

4.

5.

6.

2.1

Road Safety Trends ......................................................... 5

2.2

Risk Figures .................................................................... 6

2.3

Transport Mode ............................................................... 7

2.4

Age and Gender .............................................................. 8

2.5

Area and Road Type ....................................................... 10

2.6Time Period ................................................................... 11

2.7

Lighting and Weather Conditions ...................................... 11

Safety Performance Indicators .............................................. 12
3.1Road User Behaviour ...................................................... 12

3.2

Vehicle Safety ................................................................ 13

3.3

Enforcement .................................................................. 13Road Safety Policy and Measures .......................................... 14
4.1

National Road Safety Strategy.......................................... 14

4.2

Traffic Laws and Regulations ............................................ 14

4.3

Driving Licences ............................................................. 15

4.4Road Infrastructure ........................................................ 16

Structure and Culture .......................................................... 17
5.1Country Characteristics ................................................... 17

5.2

Structure of Road Safety Management .............................. 18

5.3

Self-declared behaviour & Attitudes .................................. 19

Notes ................................................................................ 20
6.1

Data Sources ................................................................. 20

6.2

Definitions ..................................................................... 223

C ount ry Profi leFrance1. Highlights
Road Safety Outcomes• In 2021, 2,931 people were killed in road crashes in France
mainland (not including overseas territories).
• France is 12th out of 27 EU countries in terms of the lowest
numbers of fatalities per million inhabitants.
• Compared to the EU average, the distribution of fatalities inFrance shows a high proportion of powered two-wheeler fatalities
and fatalities occurring on rural roads.
• Over the period 2012-2021, France recorded a somehow lower
decrease in road fatalities compared to the EU, while cyclist
fatalities were increased significantly.
Road Safety Performance Indicators• In France, the use of seat-belts among passenger car occupants
is higher than the EU average.
• Self-reported drink-driving is higher than the EU average.
• France has a younger passenger car fleet compared to the EU
average.
Road Safety Policy Measures & Country Characteristics• Unlike some countries there is no age restriction in France totransport children on motorcycles.
• In France, there is a lower BAC limit for bus drivers compared toother professional drivers.
• French road infrastructure is characterized by high road density.

4C ount ry Profi leFrance2. Road Safety Outcomes
2.1 Road Safety Trends
In France mainland (not including overseas territories), 2,931 people
were killed in road crashes in 2021 a. Over the period 2012-2021, thenumber of fatalities in France decreased by 20%, which is lower to therespective European Union (EU) trend (25%).
In terms of mortality rates, there were 43 road fatalities per million
inhabitants, which is just below the EU average (45). The trend of
mortality rate in France was similar to the EU trend over the period
2012-2021.
Data for serious injuries in France are not available in the CARE
database.
Table 1. Number of fatalities and serious injuries (2012 and 2021)
Fatalities
Serious Injuries

2012
3,653
/

2021
2,931
/

Trend
-20%
-

EU trend-25%-

Figure 1. Mortality rate development, 2012 – 2021

Fatalities per million
inhabitants

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
FranceEuropean Uniona

It is noted that the global COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on the CARE data for2020 and 2021 for many European countries. Traffic volumes dropped sharply during
the pandemic due to traffic restrictions, which was associated with a significant drop
in road traffic crashes and fatalities.

5C ount ry Profi leFrance2.2 Risk Figures
Figure 2. Mortality rates by country, 2021

Fatalities per million
inhabitants

100
90
80
70
60
50

EU = 45

43

40
30
20
10
0

Taking into account the number of vehicles, France recorded 0.62
fatalities per 10,000 registered vehicles which is at the EU average(0.63).
Figure 3. Fatalities per thousand registered vehicles, 2021

6

C ount ry Profi leFrance2.3 Transport Mode
In 2021 b, car occupants accounted for almost half of road traffic
fatalities in France (48%). This percentage is slightly higher than thatobserved in the EU as a whole (45%). Powered two-wheelers accounted
for 23% of road fatalities, which is just above the proportion that isseen in the European Union (19%).
Over the period 2012-2021, there has been a decrease in road fatalities
in France for all transport modes except for cyclists. The highest
decrease was recorded for occupants of lorries (29%), while cyclist
fatalities were increased substantially (38%).
Of those vulnerable road users (VRUs: pedestrians, cyclists andpowered two-wheelers) that were fatally injured in France in crashes
involving either passenger cars or buses/coaches or lorries and heavy
goods vehicles, 70% were involved in a crash with a passenger car, and
28% were involved in a crash with a lorry or heavy goods vehicle. Over
time France showed a slighter or similar decrease of fatalities in thesetypes of crashes than the EU.
Also, the number of fatalities in single vehicle crashes decreased lessthan the respective EU average. It is noted that recorded cyclist
fatalities in single vehicle crashes were increased more than 2.5 times
compared to 2012.
Table 2: Number of fatalities by transport mode, 2012 and 2021
Bus/coach occupants
Car occupants
Cyclists
Heavy goods vehicles
Lorries, under 3.5t
Other/unknown
Pedestrians
Powered two-wheelers
Total

2012
7
1,881
164
56
145
40
489
871
3,653

2021
4
1,414
227
44
103
70
401
668
2,931

Trend
-25%
+38%
-21%
-29%
+75%
-18%
-23%
-20%

EU trend
+26%
-28%
-12%
-11%
-14%
-13%
-34%
-18%
-25%

Different shares of transport modes in the casualty numbers, as shown in thissection, may also reflect differences in the size of the vehicle fleet and the usage ofdifferent modes rather than a difference in safety level.
b

7

C ount ry Profi leFranceFigure 4. Distribution of road fatalities by transport mode, 2021

European
Union

45%

France

6%

48%
0%

19%

5%

20%

9%

23%

40%

60%

18%

8%

3%

14% 2%

80%

100%

Car occupants

HGVs, Lorries and buses

Powered two-wheelers

Cyclists

Pedestrians

Other/unknown

Table 3: Number of VRU fatalities in crashes involving passenger cars,
buses or coaches and lorries or heavy goods vehicles, 2012 and 2021
Crashes involving busesor coaches
Crashes involving cars
Crashes involving lorries
or heavy goods vehicles

2012

2021

Trend

EU trend

30

15

-50%

-47%

799

636

-20%

-29%

255

256

0%

-15%

Table 4: Number of fatalities in single vehicle crashes by transportmode, 2012 and 2021
Bus/coach occupants
Car occupants
Cyclists
Heavy goods vehicles
Lorries, under 3.5t
Other/unknown
Powered two-wheelers
Total

2012

2021
3
740
74
28
50
41
249
1,185

5
916
28
31
77
23
321
1,401

Trend
-19%
+164%
-10%
-35%
+78%
-22%
-15%

EU trend
+26%
-28%
-12%
-11%
-14%
-13%
-34%
-18%

2.4 Age and Gender
The distribution of road fatalities across age groups in France is similar
to that of the EU. Over the period 2012-2021, the number of fatalities
dropped for all age groups except for men aged 50 years old or older.

8C ount ry Profi leFranceFigure 5. Distribution of road fatalities by age and gender, 2021

FemaleEuropean Union
France23%

6% 10%
7%

14%

0%
<18

20%

22%

20%
18-24

40%

17%

40%
25-49

39%
60%

50-64

80%

65+

100%

Unknown

Male
European Union

4% 13%

France 6%
0%
<18

23%

36%

18%

18-24

19%

34%

20%

60%

40%
25-49

24%

50-64

65+

1%

22%
80%

100%

Unknown

Table 5: Number of fatalities in by age and gender, 2012 and 2021
Female
<18
18-24
25-49
50-64
65+
Unknown
Total
Male
<18
18-24
25-49
50-64
65+
Unknown
Total

2012

2021

Trend

EU trend

77
162
225
139
320
0
923

48
93
142
111
249
0
643

-38%
-43%
-37%
-20%
-22%
-30%

-44%
-40%
-37%
-23%
-25%
-22%
-31%

169
591
1,120
425
425
0
2,730

137
411
787
441
512
0
2,288

-19%
-30%
-30%
+4%
+20%
-16%

-27%
-37%
-30%
-13%
-8%
-9%
-23%

9

C ount ry Profi leFrance

2.5 Area and Road TypeThe majority of road fatalities in France occurred on rural roads (59%).
The percentage of fatalities that occurred on urban roads in France(33%) is slightly lower than the EU average (39%). Over the period
2012-2021, an increase of 9% was recorded for fatalities on
motorways.
Table 6: Number of fatalities by road type, 2012 and 2021
Motorway
Rural
Urban
Unknown
Total

2012
222
2,404
1,027

2021
243
1,732
956

3,653

2,931

Trend
+9%
-28%
-7%
-20%

EU trend
-6%
-28%
-24%
-48%
-25%

Figure 6. Distribution of road fatalities by road type, 2021

EuropeanUnion

9%France

8%
0%

53%

39%

59%
10%

20%

30%

33%

40%

50%

60%

Motorway

Rural

Urban

70%

80%

90%

100%

Figure 7. Distribution of road fatalities inside urban areas by type oftransport mode, 2021

European
Union

28%

France

30%

0%

3%

20%

3%

20%

13%

24%

40%

10%

60%

33%

30%

80%

3%

3%

100%

Car occupants

HGVs, Lorries and BusesPowered two-wheelers

Cyclists

Pedestrians

Other/unknown10

C ount ry Profi leFrance

2.6 Time Period
The distribution of fatalities by day of the week and time of the day isvery similar to that for the European Union. Most of fatalities occurred
during working weekdays. Over the period 2012-2021, France showeda downward trend, especially regarding night-time fatalities during theweekend, which is in line with the EU average.
Table 7: Number of fatalities by time period, 2012 and 2021
2012
1,956
328

2021
1,643
260

Trend
-16%
-21%

EU trend-21%-30%

Weekend - Daytime

881

682

-23%

-25%

Weekend - Night-time

488

346

-29%

-39%

0
3,653

0
2,931

-20%

-75%
-25%

Working week - Daytime
Working week- Night-time

Unknown
Total

Figure 8. Distribution of road fatalities by time period, 2021

European
Union

59%

France

56%
0%

20%

8%
9%
40%

60%

23%
23%
80%

Working week - Daytime

Working week- Night-time

Weekend - Daytime

Weekend - Night-time

10%
12%
100%

2.7 Lighting and Weather Conditions
The majority of fatalities both in France and in the EU are during
daylight and with dry weather conditions.
Table 8: Number of fatalities by lighting and weather conditions, 2012
and 2021
Lighting Conditions
Daylight
Twilight
Darkness
Weather Conditions
Dry
Rain
Other/Unknown

2012

2021

Trend

EU trend

2,087
275
1,291

1,767
217
947

-15%
-21%
-27%

-17%
-25%
-33%

3,048
458
147

2,468
340
123

-19%
-26%
-16%

-24%
-28%
-25%

11

C ount ry Profi leFrance3. Safety Performance Indicators
3.1 Road User Behaviour
Table 9: Road Safety Performance Indicators, 2021
FranceSpeeding c% of passenger cars travelling within speed limits1, 4Motorways/
Rural Roads

EU

-

/

-

/

-

Front

98.0

93.3

Rear

92.0

75.5

/

67.0

98.0

97.0

/

94.4

/

37.8

15.6

11.8

95.0

94.8

Urban Roads
Seat belt & CRS use rates (%)

1,2Child restraint systems
Helmet use rates (%)

1

PTW driver
PTW passenger
CyclistDUI of Alcohol3(self-reported)% car drivers have driven at least oncein the last 30 days over the legal limit
Driver Distraction1% of drivers not using hand-heldmobile device/phone while driving

Sources: 1Baseline project, 2ETSC (2022), 3ESRA3 project (2024), 4national sources

An EU average is not available for speeding, due to different legal speed limits among
countries, which does not allow for a straightforward comparison. Please also notethat for some Safety Performance Indicators of Section 3, the EU average is based ona small number of EU Member States with available data (see Section 6.1).
c

12C ount ry Profi leFrance3.2 Vehicle Safety
Table 10: Vehicle Safety Performance Indicators, 2019
% of new passenger cars rated
with 4 EuroNCAP stars and above1
Average age of passenger car fleet(years)2

France

EU
/

83.6

10.3

11.8

Sources: 1Baseline project, 2ACEA (2022)

3.3 Enforcement
Table 11: Number of traffic police tickets per thousand population,
2020
Tickets per 1,000 population
Speeding
Non-use of seat-belt
Illegal use of mobile phone
Driving above alcohol legal limits

France
205
2.0
5.5
3.5

Source: ETSC (2022)

13

EU
139.7
5.7
4.4
1.9

C ount ry Profi leFrance4. Road Safety Policy and Measures
4.1 National Road Safety Strategy
Table 12: National road safety strategy and targets
In France, the road safety strategy is announced with each meeting of
the Interministerial Road Safety Committee. The last one was held on
17th July 2023.
Timeframe
Lead Authority
Targets
Fatalities
Serious injuries
Baseline Year
SPIs

France2030
Prime Minister level, who chairs the Interministerial Committee
for Road Safety

-50%
-50%
2019
Yes, for behaviour attitudes in traffic
https://www.onisr.securite-routiere.gouv.fr/en/road-safetyLink
policy/interministerial-road-safety-committees
Source: national sources

4.2 Traffic Laws and Regulations
National road safety legislation in France reflects the situation in the
majority of EU countries with a few exceptions. For the use of child
restraint systems, age criteria are defined, while in most EU countries,
height criteria are used. Furthermore, unlike most countries there is no
age restriction in France to transport children on motorcycles.
Table 13: National road safety legislation
Speed limits forpassenger cars (km/h)
Urban roads
Rural roads
Motorways
Allowed BAC levels (g/l)
General population
Novice drivers
Professional drivers

FranceMost common in EU

50
80
130

50: 26/27
90: 17/27
130: 14/27

0.5
0.2

0.5: 19/27
0.2: 12/27, 0.0: 9/27
0.2: 10/27, 0.0: 9/27,
0.5: 6/27

0.5 (0.2 bus drivers)

Seatbelt requirement
Drivers
Front Passenger

Yes
Yes

14

Yes: 27/27
Yes: 27/27

C ount ry Profi leFranceRear Passenger
Child restraint systems
CRS required

FranceYes

Most common in EU
Yes: 27/27

Up to 10 years

up to 135 cm: 11/27,
up to 150 cm: 11/27

Children in front seats

Prohibited under 10
yearsChildren on motorcycles

Not restricted

Prohibited under certain
age/height: 18/27

Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Up to 12 years

Yes: 27/27
Yes: 27/27
Yes: 25/27
Not mandatory: 19/27
Not restricted: 16/27

No
Yes

No: 26/27
Yes: 27/27

Helmet requirement
Powered Two Wheelers
All roads
All engines
Cyclists
Age restriction
Mobile phone use
Hand-held phone use allowed
Hands-free phone use allowed
E-scooters
Age restriction

Allowed from 14 years

Max. speed limit (km/h)
Helmet required

Allowed in CRS: 22/27

Not restricted: 9/27,
Allowed from 14 years: 6/27
25: 18/27
Not required: 12/27

25
No
Yes (not allowed
Allowed on road lanes
Yes: 18/27
outside urban areas)
Allowed on pavements
No
No: 13/27, Yes: 9/27
Allowed on bicycle paths
Yes
Yes: 21/27
Sources: EC (2023), WHO (2018), FERSI (2020), National sources

4.3 Driving Licences
Table 14: Policies and regulations related to driving licences
FranceMost common in EU

Novice Drivers
Accompanied driving
Probation period for novice
drivers
Renewal Procedure
Renewal procedure (compulsory)
Renewal interval

15 years
Up to 3 years
Yes
Every 15years

Medical requirements
Source: National sources

Yes d

17 years: 13/27,
No: 7/27
2 years: 7/27,
3 years: 5/27
Yes: 26/27
Εvery 10years: 13/27,
Εvery 15years: 9/27
Yes: 22/27

A decree establishes the list of medical conditions that are incompatible orcompatible with or without accommodations or restrictions for obtaining, renewing ormaintaining a driving licence or that may result in a driving licence being issued withlimited validity.
d15

C ount ry Profi leFrance4.4 Road Infrastructure
Table 15: Policies and regulations related to road infrastructure
FranceAudits or star rating required for
new road infrastructure TEN T
Inspections / star rating of existingroads TEN T
Design standards for the safety ofpedestrians / cyclists
Investments to upgrade high risk
locations
Policies & investment in urban
public transport
Policies promoting walking andcycling
Source: WHO (2018)

Yes

16

Most common in EU
Yes: 10/27,
Partial:17/27

Yes

Yes:26/27

Yes

Yes:25/27

Yes

Yes:20/27

Yes

Yes:23/27

Yes

Yes: 21/27

C ount ry Profi leFrance5. Structure and Culture
5.1 Country Characteristics
Population density in France e is similar to the EU average. Its GDP per
capita is above that of the European Union.
Table 16: Country Characteristics, 2021
FranceDemographics
Population (inhabitants)
67,656,682
2
Population density (inh./km )106.6% children (0-17)
21.4% adults (18-64)
57.9% elderly (65+)
20.7% of urban population
81.4
Economic Data2
GDP per capita (euro)
36,670
1
Infrastructure
Country Area (km2)
638,475
Road network length (km)1,105,094
Road density (km/km2)
2.0% of motorways
1.06% GDP spent to road infrastructure3
0.4
1Vehicle Fleet
Vehicles per population
0.72% of passenger cars
79.9
% of motorcycles
5.7% of HGVs
14.2% of buses
0.2
Exposure1
Modal split of passenger transport on land
(passenger-km in %):- Passenger cars
85.0
- Bus/coach/Metro/Tram
5.6
Modal split of freight transport on land
(tonne-km in %):- Road84.9- Rail10.3
1
Environment
CO2 emissions from road transport
117.1(million tonnes)
Share of road transport emissions in total
87.0
transport emissions (%)
Sources: 1EC (2023b), 2Eurostat, 3OECD (2023)

EU

2

447,000,548
109.0
18.2
61.6
20.3
75.2
32,5604,225,134
4,473,380
1.1
1.67
0.4
0.73
77.3
11.4
11.1
0.2

85.2
8.7
74.6
16.4
739.8
76.3

Population and country area concern the whole France, including the overseas
departments.

e17

C ount ry Profi leFrance5.2 Structure of Road Safety Management
Table 17: Road Safety Management Structure
Key Functions

Key Actors-

Formulation of nationalroad safety strategy-

Monitoring of the roadsafety development
Improvements in roadinfrastructure

Improvement invehiclesThe Inter-ministerial Committee for Road Safety(CISR): overall decision-making body for road safety
The National Road Safety Council (CNSR):
propositions to improve road safety. It involves all
stakeholders
The Ministry of Interior via the Directorate of Road
Safety (DSR)-

ONISR (French Road Safety Observatory), responsible
for the traffic crash database and evaluation of theroad safety policies-

The Ministry of Transport (MTE) for trunk road
network
Road concessionaires
Local authorities (County and City level)-

The Ministry of Transport (MTE) responsible for vehicle
regulations
The Ministry of Interior responsible for driver
regulations and training (DSR)

Improvement in roaduser education-

Directorate of Road Safety (DSR)
Ministry of Education

Publicity campaigns-

Directorate of Road Safety (DSR)
Insurance companies
Road Safety association-

Police forces: “gendarmerie nationale” in nonurban
areas, “police” in urban areas-

Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Health
Ministry of Work
Research institute: University Gustave Eiffel (technicalimprovements for infrastructure and vehicles)
Centre of studies and expertise on risks, environment,
mobility and development (CEREMA)

Enforcement of traffic
laws

Other relevant actors

Source: National sources18

C ount ry Profi leFrance5.3 Self-declared behaviour & Attitudes
Table 18: Self-declared behaviour and attitudes
Ranking among
EU countries

FranceEU Average

19.4

17.0

11/18

48.0

55.7

5/18

18.5

17.2

10/18

18.1
35.9

16.8
34.4

7/18
9/18

12.6

15.0

12/18

79.4

76.6

5/18

43.7

38.3

5/18

73.0

60.1

5/18

Risk Taking% at least once in the past 30 days
- drive after drinking alcohol- drive faster than the speed limit
inside urban areas- transport children under 150cm
without using CRS
Enforcement Perception% of likely of being checked for- drink-driving- respecting speed limits- using of hand-held mobile phone
while driving
Support for policy measures% of support to a legal obligation to- zero tolerance for all novice
drivers- limiting the speed limit to
30km/h in all built-up areas(except on main thoroughfares)- requiring all cyclists to wear ahelmetSource: ESRA3 project (2024)

19

C ount ry Profi leFrance6. Notes
6.1 Data Sources
CARE (Community database on road accidents in Europe)
All information in section 1 of the Country Profile is based on the CARE
database. The full glossary of definitions of variables used in this Reportis available at EC Mobility & Transport - Road Safety webpage.
The European average is based on the average of the 27 EU countries.
EU trends and aggregated figures are based on the most recent figuresavailable (2021). In case of missing values, the EU averages andaggregated data were produced by imputing figures based on data fromprevious years. For values less than 10, the trend is not shown since it
may be due to randomness. Also, due to missing data on serious
injuries for some EU countries, EU total/average is not calculated. Dateof extraction: July 2023
ACEA (2022)
European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association. The automobile
industry - Pocket guide 2022/2023. ACEA, 2022.
https://www.acea.auto/files/ACEA_Pocket_Guide_2022-2023.pdf
Data on the average age of the passenger car fleet come from the
ACEA. The European average is based on the average of 24 EU
countries. Date of extraction: July 2023
Baseline project
Information in section 3 is based on Key Performance Indicators
collected within the Baseline project.
https://road-safety.transport.ec.europa.eu/statistics-andanalysis/data-and-analysis/key-performance-indicators-kpis_en
Alternative sources were used for countries with no available data in
the Baseline project (e.g., ETSC, national sources). The European
average is based on the average of 17 EU countries for speeding, 23
EU countries for seat-belt use, 13 EU countries for CRS use, 14 EU
countries for helmet use, 14 EU countries for driver distraction and 13
EU countries for vehicle safety. Date of extraction: July 2023
European Commission 2023
Data were retrieved from EC Mobility & Transport - Road Safety
website:https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/drivingabroad/road-rules-and-safety/index_en.htm
Date of extraction: July 2023
20

C ount ry Profi leFranceEuropean Commission – Statistical Pocketbook 2023 (b)European Commission, Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport.
EU transport in figures – Statistical pocketbook 2023. Publications
Office of the European Union, 2023. Date of extraction: November 2023
https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2832/319371
Eurostat
Data were retrieved from Eurostat: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat
The European average is based on the average of the 27 EU countries.
Date of extraction: July 2023
ESRA project
Information in sections 3 (drink-driving) and 5.3 is based on data fromthe ESRA 3 (E-Survey of Road Users’ Attitudes) project (2023).
https://www.esranet.eu/
The European average is the average of 17 European countries. In the
ranking of the countries in Table 18, Switzerland is also included. Dateof extraction: November 2023
ETSC
Information in section 3 is based on data from the following ETSC
report. The European average is the average of 25 European countries.
European Transport Safety Council. How traffic law enforcement cancontribute to safer roads. PIN Flash Report 42. ETSC, 2022.
https://etsc.eu/how-traffic-law-enforcement-can-contribute-to-saferroads-pin-flash-42/
FERSI (2020)
Kamphuis, K. & van Schagen, I. (2020) E-scooters in Europe: legal
status, usage and safety. Results of a survey in FERSI countries. FERSI
paper. https://fersi.org/. Date of extraction: July 2023
IRTAD (International Traffic Safety Data and Analysis Group)
Data related to the percentage of GDP spent to road infrastructure(Section
5.1)
isretrieved
from
the
OECD
database:https://stats.oecd.org/. Date of extraction: July 2023
WHO
Data were retrieved from the WHO Global Status Report on Road
Safety, published in 2018. The European average is based on the
average of the 27 EU countries.
https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/road_safety_status/
2018/en/. Date of extraction: July 2023
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C ount ry Profi leFrance6.2 Definitions
Road Crash
Any crash involving at least one road vehicle in motion on a public roador private road to which the public has right of access, resulting in atleast one injured or killed person. Data are based on police reports andthere may be an underestimate because of underreporting (especiallyfor non-fatal crashes and crashes not involving a motorised vehicle).
Fatalities
Total number of persons fatally injured within 30 days of the roadcrash; correction factors applied when needed. Confirmed suicide andnatural death are not included.
Seriously injured (at 30 days)
Total number of persons seriously injured corrected by correction
factors when needed. Injured (although not killed) in the road crashand hospitalized at least 24 hours. The definition of “serious injury”
varies considerably among EU countries, affecting, thus, the reliabilityof cross-country comparisons.
Lorry, under 3.5tn
Goods vehicle under 3.5t maximum gross weight. Smaller motor
vehicles used only for the transport of goods.
Heavy Goods Vehicles
Goods vehicle over 3.5t maximum gross weight. Larger motor vehicles
used only for the transport of goods.
Powered two-wheelers
Driver or passenger of either a moped (two or three wheeled vehicle
equipped with engine size of maximum 50cc and maximum speed that
does not exceed 45 km/h. A moped can also have an electric motor.
Speed pedelecs and electric powered bicycles that offer pedal
assistance up to 45 km/h, also belong to this category of vehicles.) ora motorcycle (motor vehicle with two or three wheels, with an engine
size of more than 50 cc. A motorcycle can also have an electric motor.).
Working week – Daytime
Monday to Friday 6.00 a.m. to 9.59 p.m.
Working week – Night-time
Monday 10 p.m. to Tuesday 5.59 a.m.
Tuesday 10 p.m. to Wednesday 5.59 a.m.
Wednesday 10 p.m. to Thursday 5.59 a.m.
Thursday 10 p.m. to Friday 5.59 a.m.
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C ount ry Profi leFranceWeekend – Daytime
Saturday to Sunday 6.00 a.m. to 9.59 p.m.
Weekend – Night-time
Friday 10 p.m. to Saturday 5.59 a.m.
Saturday 10 p.m. to Sunday 5.59 a.m.
Sunday 10 p.m. to Monday 5.59 a.m.
Speeding
The percentage of passenger cars travelling within legal maximum
speed limits based on roadside measurements during daytime.
Seat belt & CRS use rates
The percentage of passenger car occupants using seat belts and child
restraint systems (CRS) based on roadside observations during
daytime.
Helmet use rates
The percentage of powered two-wheeler riders and cyclists using
helmets based on roadside observations during daytime. Helmet use
rates for cyclists in some countries concern only urban roads. Please
note that in some countries, the use of helmets is not obligatory for
cyclists (see Table 13).
DUI of Alcohol
The percentage of car drivers who have driven at least once in the last
30 days over the legal alcohol limit based on a self-reported survey.
Driver Distraction
The percentage of drivers not using a hand-held mobile device/phone
while driving based on roadside surveys during daytime on working
days. The vehicle types included are passenger cars, light goods
vehicles and buses/coaches.
Explanations of symbols in tables:/ : not available- : not applicable (e.g. calculation cannot be performed)

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