December 2021 Road Safety dashboard

Mainland

296 people were killed on the roads of mainland France in December 2021 compared with 211 in December 2020, i.e. 85 more people killed. This result is slightly higher than in December 2019 (12 more people killed, i.e. +4%) and is comparable to the average for December 2015-2019.

The number of injury accidents recorded by the police stood at 4,407 in December 2021, higher than last year's result (3,772 accidents, i.e. 635 more injury accidents than in December 2020) but lower than the result for December 2019 (4,829 accidents, i.e. 422 fewer bodily injury accidents and a decrease of -9%).

5,518 people were injured in December 2021, which is +20% higher than in December 2020 and -10% lower than in December 2019: 4,600 people were injured in December 2020 and 6,137 in December 2019.

Travel in December 2021 was higher than in December 2020 (an average of +15% compared to December 2020, according to Cerema's traffic dataviz, due to the restrictions in place during the 2nd lockdown of the French population until 15 December). Thus the results concerning road accidents reflect the resumption of French mobility.

^{Data source : ONISR - Data on accidents involving injuries recorded by police forces - Geographical area : France mainland
Labelled series (definitive until 2020), 2021 estimate based on data as of 21/01/2022}

2021 road fatalities by mode of travel, age, and road network

In December 2021, no measures restricting the mobility of French people are in place in metropolitan France, whereas in December 2020, a lockdown was in place until 15 December 2020. Fatalities in December 2021 are thus much higher than those recorded in December 2020, but remain similar to the average for the last five years before the pandemic.

Pedestrian fatalities in December 2021 are lower than in December 2020 and December 2019. Thus, 48 pedestrians were killed in December 2021, 6 fewer than in December 2020 and 14 fewer than in December 2019. Pedestrian fatalities for December 2021 are lower than the average for the five years prior to the pandemic.

Cyclist fatalities for December 2021, with 10 cyclists killed, are lower than December 2020 and of the same order of magnitude as December 2019.

Motorcyclist fatalities, with 30 fatalities, are higher than the pre-pandemic level in December with about 5 more fatalities per year.

Fatalities for car users are higher than in December 2020 and similar to the pre-pandemic situation: 173 car users were killed in December 2021 compared to 111 in December 2020 (62 more fatalities) and 150 in December 2019 (23 more fatalities). Car fatalities in 2021 remained well below the car fatalities recorded in 2019 in every month (around 30 fewer fatalities on average per month), with the exception of last July.

18 children or teenagers were killed on the roads in December 2021, which is similar to December 2020 and higher than December 2019. Since the beginning of the year, fatalities for children or teenagers are much higher than in 2020 or 2019 (respectively +21% and +20% higher), but in the same order as in previous years.

44 young people aged 18-24 were killed on the roads in December 2021, 9 more than in December 2020 and 2 less than in December 2019. This is slightly lower than the average for December in the five pre-pandemic years.

82 senior citizens aged 65 or over died on the roads in December 2021, a fatality higher than in December 2020 (13 more fatalities) but similar to the pre-pandemic months of December.

In urban areas, fatalities are significantly higher than in December 2020 and similar to December 2019, with 37 more and one less fatality respectively.

In rural areas, fatalities are higher than in December 2020, with 36 more fatalities, and slightly higher than in December 2019, with 5 more fatalities.

^{Data source : ONISR - Data on accidents involving injuries recorded by police forces - Geographical area : France mainland
Labelled series (definitive until 2020), 2021 estimate based on data as of 21/01/2022}

Development of the number of users fatalities cumulated on a rolling 12 months

The health crisis has profoundly affected trips since March 2020, for all users, but to varying degrees depending on alternating restrictions and authorized movements.

Car users usually account for half of all road deaths. Their fatalities over the last 12 months is estimated at 1,411 fatalities compared to 1,622 for the entire year of 2019, which represent a decrease of -13% compared with the pre-pandemic situation.

Pedestrian fatalities also dropped sharply over this period: an estimated 416 pedestrians were killed in the last 12 months compared to 483 for the entire year of 2019, which means a drop of -14%.

These very strong decreases are to be related to the strong decrease in the fatalities of seniors aged 65 years or more, especially those aged 75 years or more, whose journeys were brought forward before 6 pm, thus on the winter daytime period, but also the younger age groups, strongly concerned by the evening travel restrictions linked to the curfews until mid-June. During these 12 months of 2021, the still marked decrease in pedestrian and car user fatalities compared to the pre-pandemic period is expressed in urban areas and outside.

Powered two-wheeler fatalities over the last 12 months are still lower than in 2019, but the decrease is less important than the one observed in 2020. Motorcyclist fatalities are reduced by only -6% with 578 killed in the last 12 months compared to 615 fatalities in 2019. The sharp decline in moped rider fatalities continues in 2021, -31% compared to 2019 with 92 moped rider fatalities in the last 12 months compared to 134 in 2019; a decrease that affects all age groups.

Fatalities among young adults aged 18-24, at high risk of serious road accidents, have decreased by -7% in the last 12 months compared to 2019 (509 people killed compared to 549 in 2019), a trend that continues for the first half of 2021 with curfew measures and the closure of some festive places.

Compared to other trends, cyclist fatalities over the last 12 months are higher than in 2019 : 226 cyclists were killed in the last 12 months, an increase of +21% compared to 2019 (and even +35% in rural areas). Indeed, despite that the trips have been limited by the measures related to the health crisis, the French have shown a preference for using individual means of tranport for short trips rather than public transport in the towns, but also have developed leisure cycling in rural areas.

Finally, fatalities among heavy goods vehicle users rose sharply at the end of the year. It is up by 33% compared to 2019 but remains similar to the average for the years 2015-2019.

^{Data source : ONISR - Data on accidents involving injuries recorded by police forces - Geographical area : France mainland
Labelled series (definitive until 2020), 2021 estimate based on data as of 21/01/2022}

Overseas

In December 2021, the road safety indicators for french overseas are higher than in December 2020 for fatalities, higher than in December 2019:

•  282 injury accidents (236 in the DOM and 46 in the COM-NC) compared to 293 injury accidents in December 2020 (243 and 50 respectively);
•  370 injured (322 in the DOM and 48 in the COM-NC) compared to 378 injured in December 2020 (308 and 70 respectively);
•  36 fatalities (27 in the DOM and 9 in the COM-NC) compared to 24 fatalities in December 2020 (18 and 6 respectively).

^{ns: non-significant change
Data source : ONISR - Data on accidents involving injuries recorded by police forces - Geographical area : DOM + COM + New Caledonia
Definitive data until 2020, provisional data 2021 stopped on 021/01/2022}