2017 Road traffic violations annual report

Introduction

In 2017, 3,684 people were killed on French roads (including overseas) (Source : ONISR - final data), i.e. - 1.4% compared to 2016. This result must nevertheless be put into perspective with the halving of the number of fatalities since the early 2000s and the -13.7% drop since 2010. The reduction in the number of victims on our roads is partly due to the enforcement activity combined with the point permit system introduced in 1992.

This document first of all assesses the offences recorded by the national police and gendarmerie forces in 2017 as well as those of Paris police for offences and parking issues. The activity of municipal police forces is not counted with previous offences but analysed separately. This document then proposes an assessment of the impact of  violations on the points on the driving licence. The figures on violations were transmitted by the General Directorate of the National Gendarmerie (DGGN), the Central Directorate of Republican Security Companies (DCCRS), the Central Directorate of Public Security (DCSP), the Paris Police (PPP), and finally by the National Agency for Automated Processing of Offences (ANTAI).

For the first time in this report, data from electronic tickets from municipal police forces, transmitted by ANTAI, are analysed. They are presented separately from the offence data collected by national police forces.

National data on presumed authors of fatal accidents (APAM) are transmitted to ONISR each month by the prefectures. These data, which are used locally by the counties, are an additional tool for adapting local road safety policy.

The figures on the demerit point system were provided by the National Bureau of  Driving Rights in the Directorate for Road Safety (DSR/ERPC). The demerit point system was introduced in France by Act No. 89-469 of 10 July 1989 on various road safety provisions and contraventions. It entered into force on 1 July 1992, when road safety caused more than 9,000 deaths each year. The demerit point system is a key instrument in the prevention and control of road safety. Decisions to withdraw points are recorded in the computer files of the National Driving Licence System (SNPC) regulatory application, placed under the authority of the Minister of the Interior (National Bureau of Driving Rights).

Data on road safety convictions and sanctions were provided to ONISR by the Ministry of Justice (Statistical Service). Finally, data relating to breaches of the transport code were communicated to ONISR by the Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition (Road Transport Sub-Directorate).

General summary

• In 2017, nearly 40 million traffic violations were recorded. This includes 17 million parking violations (60% of which are non-payment of parking).
• In particular, municipal police reported 12.8 million violations to the road traffic regulations via electronic tickets, of which 12 million were related to parking.
• Excluding the activity of municipal police, the overall volume of offences (offences + fines) is stable compared to 2016: +0.1 million. 27,122,677 offences were recorded by the national police, the gendarmerie and the automated control system (CA) (+0.4%). The number of traffic offences (594,384) was stable in 2017 (-0.2%). The share of offences represents 2.2% of all offences. For some types of offences, this is the third year of increase, reflecting an increase in certain criminal behaviour (in particular drug use, +10.7%, refusals and obstacles, +6.6% and hit-and-run offences after accidents, +2.2%). The number of parking tickets (5,211,449) decreased significantly by -18.4%. In 2017, this type of contravention accounted for 19.6% of all contraventions. The activity of Paris police is included, but not the activity of municipal police forces. The sharp decrease can be explained by the reallocation of national police following the announcement in 2017 of the outsourcing of parking ticketing by the Paris City Hall on 1 January 2018. The number of tickets excluding parking (21,316,851) increased by +6.4%. They represent more than three-quarters of all contraventions (26,528,293 or +0.4%).
• 17.4 million speeding violations were recorded in 2017, an increase of 6.3%. This is the highest level observed in this area. This evolution is the result of the increase in offences detected by the automated control system in connection with the increase in the number of radars and the implementation of exchanges with new European partners allowing the effective enforcement of fines for offenders living abroad.
• Delinquent blood alcohol levels (greater than or equal to 0.8 g/l of blood or 0.40 mg/l of expired air and more) decreased by -6.7% to 123,926 offences, still representing 20.8% of all offences. The contraventional blood alcohol level (less than 0.8 g/l of blood or 0.40 mg/l of exhaled air) decreased by -2.7% from 2016, with 80,182 contraventions in 2017. 7,287 tickets were issued for blood alcohol levels between 0.2 and 0.5 g/l for probationary driving licence holders.
• Driving after illegal drug use (or refusal to submit to testing) continues to increase with 49,135 offences recorded (+10.7%) in 2017, representing 8.3% of offences, a steady increase with increasing law enforcement involvement in this area.
• 17.03 million violations were detected by the automated control system (CA), an increase of +1.0 million. As of 1 January 2018, the CA speed system had 2,784 fixed speed cameras (including 700 at traffic lights and 78 at level crossings) as well as 884 mobile speed cameras used by the police. These automatic radars record 64.4% of traffic violations and 95% of speeding violations. Speed violations recorded by CA increased by +6.8% with 16.6 million violations recorded in 2017 (compared to 15.5 million in 2016). The contraventions relating to "crossing red lights" (traffic lights or level crossings) recorded by CA (radars) amounted to 533,835.