Since the advent of the automobile, measures to organize travel arrangements have been gradually introduced. It is always a balance between promoting access to driving for the greatest number of people, promoting mobility at an ever faster pace to go further and further, and the need to control the potential consequences: accidents, injuries and deaths.
Road safety measures implemented over the past 3 years :
2022
- January 14: Amendment to the Vienna Convention; decree of July 21, if the automated driving system complies the condition of having a "driver" is satisfied.
- Decree of March 28 setting the list of medical conditions incompatible or compatible with or without accommodations or restrictions
restrictions for obtaining a driving license.
- June 13: Decree incorporating new road signs into the Highway Code, reminding drivers of the safety distances to be observed in tunnels.
distances to be respected in tunnels.
2021
Heavy trucks and transit vehicles must be equipped with visible blind spot decals for heavy vehicles.
- March 30: Obligation to sell breathalyzers next to alcoholic beverages sold over the counter or on the Internet.
- August 02: Launch of a new experimentation of the Inter-Files Traffic (CIF) for motorcyclists
- November 1: Mountain law makes it mandatory to equip vehicles with winter tires between 01/11 and 01/03 in certain mountainous areas. 34 departments concerned.
2020
- Driving licence suspension for drivers holding a phone in their hand and committing at the same time another traffic offence in terms of driving rules: speeding, passing, overtaking, intersection, right of way. Detention then suspension for up to 6 months.
- Extension from 6 months to 1 year of the maximum duration of the right to drive with an EAD as an alternative to licence suspension.
- Simplification of access to supervised driving. In case of failure of the practical test, only the agreement of the insurer is necessary to resume supervised driving.
- Possibility of immobilising and impounding for 7 days, with the authorisation of the Prefect, vehicles whose driver has committed an offence: blood alcohol level higher than 0.8 gr/l, use of narcotics, lack of driving licence, refusal to submit to an alcohol or narcotics test.
- Drivers who have committed a repeat offence of driving under the influence of alcohol will only be able to drive a vehicle equipped with an EAD, with medical and psychological follow-up.
- Ban of parking less than 5m upstream of pedestrian crossings: road managers must complete the compliance work by the end of 2026.
- 15 December: national strategy for the development of automated road mobility 2020-2022
2019
- 1 March: enhanced training required to obtain an AM licence (moped or light motor quadricycle)
- 12 March: generalisation of the installation of an alcohol ignition interlock device as a possible alternative to suspension of the driving licence.
- 23 April: the website of the National Interministerial Road Safety Observatory (ONISR) goes online
- 10 May: after a successful experiment in the Normandy region, the outsourcing of radar car driving is extended to Bretagne, Pays de la Loire and Centre Val de Loire
- 24 June: The French authorities set up cross-border exchanges of information on road traffic offences with the Republic of Ireland and Sweden.
- 9 July: 8 new CNSR recommendations adopted for safer roads.
- 21 August: Decree on the right to drive only vehicles equipped with an alcohol ignition interlock device.
- 27 August: France and the Principality of Monaco develop cross-border exchanges of information on road traffic offences.
- 6 September: Reforms undertaken by the State to reduce the cost of driving licences and to help people choose their driving school.
- 19 September: promotion of the safety path for motorcyclists
- 15 October: operational launch of the file of insured vehicles.
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For measures taken in previous years, please download the document opposite (in French)