Autoroutes of France

The autoroute (French: [otoʁut] , highway or motorway) system in France consists largely of toll roads (76% of the total). It is a network of 11,882 km (7,383 mi) of motorways as of 2014. On road signs, autoroute destinations are shown in blue, while destinations reached through a combination of autoroutes are shown with an added autoroute logo. Toll autoroutes are signalled with the word péage (toll or toll plaza).
Unlike other motorway systems, there is no systematic numbering system, but there is a clustering of Autoroute numbers based on region.
A1, A3, A4, A5, A6, A10, A13, A14, A15, A16 radiate clockwise from Paris, with A2, A11, and A12 branching from A1, A10, and A13, respectively. A7 begins in Lyon, where A6 ends. A8 and A9 begin from the A7.
The 20s are found in northern and northwestern France. The 30s are found in eastern and northeastern France. The 40s are found near the Alps. The 50s are in the southeast, near the French Riviera. The 60s are found in southern France. The 70s are found in the center of the country. The 80s are found in western France, except for the A89 autoroute which goes from southwestern to eastern France.
Autoroutes are often given a name, even if these are not very used:
The status of motorways in France has been the subject of debate through years, from their construction until recently. Originally, the autoroutes were built by private companies mandated by the French government and followed strict construction rules as described below. They are operated and maintained by mixed companies held in part by private interests and in part by the state. Those companies hold concessions, which means that autoroutes belong to the French state and their administration to semi-private companies. Vinci controls around 4,380 km (2,720 mi) of motorway. The different companies are as follows:
Only in the Brittany region do most of the autoroutes belong to the government. They are operated by the regional council and are free from tolls.
France has the following speed limits for limited access roads classified as motorways:
Limited access roads classified as express roads have lower speed limit (90 or 110 km/h, 55 or 70 mph).
In normal conditions, there is a minimum speed of 80 km/h (50 mph) in the leftmost lane. There is no minimum speed on the others lanes, however the speed must be adapted to the conditions and not constitute a hazard by being too slow.
The autoroutes are designed to increase driver safety and allow for higher speed limits (130 km/h or 80 mph) than on regular roads (80 km/h or 50 mph) without increasing the risk of accidents.
The safety features include:
Fatalities on motorways have decreased between 2002 and 2016.
On French motorways, in 2016, 121 fatal accidents are direct/initial accidents representing 82% of fatal accidents, 16 (11%) fatal accidents occurs after a previous accident, and 10 (7%) fatal accidents occur after an incident.
Three scenarios catch two-thirds of initial accidents:
Most of fatalities occur by night.
Several factor of accidents are more highly probable by night in proportion to the traffic, although inattentiveness remains risky during the day.
Young drivers between 18 and 34 years old represent 19% of motorway drivers, but they are overrepresented in fatal motor vehicle collisions and are involved in more than half of fatal accidents.
Although pedestrians are forbidden on motorways in conformity with the Vienna Convention, they are still sometimes killed on motorways.
In case a vehicle on a carriage cannot move, motorways safety rules remains applicable: it is forbidden for a pedestrian to travel on the motorway by article 421-2 from the "Code de la route" law. For this reason, in case of accident or breakdown, it is advised to turn on hazard warning lights, wear high-visibility clothing, and go in a safer place such as the other side from the traffic barrier where there is no traffic. Since 2008, it is clarified that warning triangles are no longer mandatory when they would endanger the driver of the disabled vehicle.
The toll roads were granted as concessions to mixed-economy corporations; the free roads are directly administered by the national government. Tolls are either based on a flat-rate for access to the road or on the distance driven. The latter case is the most common for long distances; users take a ticket from an automatic machine when they enter the autoroute, and pay according to the distance when exiting; toll booths accept multiple payment methods.
In 2005, the Villepin government proposed a controversial plan to sell all of the state's holdings in autoroute companies to private investors. Critics contend that the price announced is well below the profit forecasts for these companies, and thus that the government sacrifices the future to solve current budgetary problems.
The FM 107.7 radio coverage is available in 2017 on 8902 kilometres of the (ASFA) network. This is a list of highways that are updated in 107.7 FM every 15 minutes, live 24/7 (if the highway is said alone, it means that the station covers all around it):
99% of the privately managed network is protected by natural fencing.
Privately managed motorways have 1764 wildlife crossing structures.
Media related to Autoroutes in France at Wikimedia Commons