In December 2022, 276 people died on the roads of mainland France, and 23 overseas.
Warning: the health crisis linked to Covid-19 has led the government to take exceptional measures to restrict trips and activities, the evolution of road accidents since April 2020 reflects the impact of the measures and the way in which French people have adapted their mobility according to the periods. Since 2 February 2022, teleworking is no longer required 3 to 4 days a week in mainland France but is once again recommended. There are no restrictions on travel. The road accident indicators show very atypical trends since April 2020, depending on the period; comparisons are therefore also made with 2019 as a reference year, and even with previous years. |
Mainland
276 people were killed on the roads of mainland France in December 2022 compared with 298 in December 2021, i.e. 22 fewer people killed. This result is also down compared to December 2019 (8 fewer people killed, i.e. -3%).
The number of injury accidents recorded by law enforcement is 3,910 in December 2022, lower than last year (438 fewer injury accidents than in December 2021) as well as the result of December 2019 (919 fewer injury accidents, i.e. a decrease of -19%).
4,999 people were injured in December 2022, a result that is -8% lower than December 2021 and -19% lower than December 2019. There were 5,440 injured in December 2021 and 6,137 injured in December 2019.
Travel during December 2022 was slightly higher than in December 2021 according to the Cerema dataviz, both during the week and on weekends.
Data source : ONISR - Data on injury accidents recorded by police forces - Geographical area : France mainland
Labelled series (final until 2021), 2022 estimate based on data as of 26/01/2023
2022 road fatalities by transport mode, age, and road network
Fatalities in December 2022 are well below those recorded in December 2021 and below those recorded in December 2019; they are at a level well below the average for the December months of the last 5 years before the pandemic (2015-2019).
Pedestrian fatalities in December 2022 are lower than in December 2021 and much lower than in December 2019. Thus, 47 pedestrians were killed in December 2022, 4 fewer than in December 2021 and 15 fewer than in December 2019.
Cyclist fatalities in December 2022, with 11 cyclists killed, are similar to those recorded in December 2021 and slightly higher than those in December 2019. This level of fatalities is also similar to the average for December 2015-2019. In contrast, 3 people died in motorized EDPm, a relatively high result over a month.
Motorcyclist fatalities, with 15 fatalities, are far below the December 2021 level as well as the December 2019 level where fatalities were twice as high.
This is also significantly lower than the level observed between 2015 and 2019.
Car user fatalities are lower than in December 2021 and higher than in December 2019: 164 car users were killed in December 2022 compared to 172 in December 2021 and 150 in December 2019 (8 fewer and 14 more fatalities, respectively).
4 children or teenagers were killed on the roads in December 2022, an unusually low result.
44 young people aged 18-24 were killed on the roads in December 2022, 2 more than in December 2021 and 2 fewer than in December 2019.
82 seniors citizens aged 65 or over were killed on the roads in December 2022, lower than December 2021 (4 fewer fatalities) and similar to December 2019 (1 fewer fatality).
In urban areas, fatalities are significantly lower than in December 2021 and December 2019, with 17 and 16 fewer fatalities respectively.
In rural areas, fatalities are lower than in December 2021 and December 2019, with 9 and 4 fewer fatalities, respectively.
Motorway fatalities are still increasing in December and have reached the last 12 months their highest level since 2010.
Data source : ONISR - Data on injury accidents recorded by police forces - Geographical area : France mainland
Labelled series (final until 2021), 2022 estimate based on data as of 26/01/2023
Development of the number of users fatalities cumulated on a rolling 12 months
The health crisis has deeply affected trips since March 2020, for all users, but to varying degrees depending on the alternation of restrictions and authorized movements. Even if the pandemic is still active, trips and accident rates are returning to near pre-pandemic levels, sometimes with changes linked to new habits.
Since the pandemic, car users have accounted for just under half of all road deaths. Their fatalities over the last 12 months are estimated at 1,563 fatalities compared to 1,622 for the entire year 2019.
Pedestrian fatalities, which had been falling since March 2020, are now similar to pre-pandemic levels: an estimated 484 pedestrians have died in the last 12 months compared to 483 in the entire year 2019.
The fatalities of powered two-wheeler users over the past 12 months are still lower than in 2019 but are approaching the same level. Motorcyclist fatalities are down by -4% with 588 fatalities in the last 12 months compared to 615 fatalities in 2019. Moped rider fatalities are still down -5% compared to 2019 with 127 moped fatalities in the last 12 months compared to 134 in 2019.
Fatalities among young adults aged 18-24, at high risk of serious road accidents, have now exceeded for these past 12 months those recorded in 2019, with 552 fatalities compared to 549 fatalities over 2019.
Fatalities among seniors citizens aged 65 or over stands at 875 people killed in the last 12 months, a level that is higher than all of the last 15 years except 2016.
Cycling fatalities over the last 12 months are well above the level of 2019: 244 cyclists have died in the last 12 months, i.e. +30% compared to 2019. Indeed, the French are showing an interest in using individual modes of transport for short journeys in towns and cities, but they also use bicycles for leisure activities in rural areas.
Fatalities in motorized PMDs continue to rise, with 34 people killed in the last 12 months.
Finally, the number of fatalities among heavy goods vehicle users rose sharply in early 2022 and is now back to the average for the years 2015-2019.
Data source : ONISR - Data on injury accidents recorded by police forces - Geographical area : France mainland
Labelled series (final until 2021), 2022 estimate based on data as of 26/01/2023
Evolution of people injured over the last 12 months according to their transport mode
Warning: The number of people injured in road traffic accidents as recorded by the police forces is under-represented. Injured people, particularly those on e-scooters, bicycles or motorbikes, contact the emergency services directly or go to health facilities on their own, or even return home, without the police forces being aware of this. The volumes of injuries recorded by the police forces are therefore very volatile over a given month or since the beginning of the year, and it was therefore decided to display the trends for the current month and the cumulative total since January, compared with 2021 and 2019. Only the rolling 12-months totals are displayed in relative terms compared to 2019, which is taken as the reference year for the decade. |
In urban areas, the evolution of injured in motorized PMDs is on an upward slope compared to 2019, this mode of travel has grown. In the last 12 months compared to 2019, the number of injured cyclists increases by +12% while the number of injured pedestrians and motorcyclists decreases by -15% and -19%.
In rural areas, the largest increase in injured over the past 12 months compared to 2019 is for cyclists, with a 17% increase. The trend for pedestrian and car users injured is slightly down compared to 2019.
ns: non-significant change
Data source : ONISR - Data on injury accidents recorded by police forces - Geographical area : France mainland
Labelled series (final data until 2020, near final data 2021), 2022 provisional data as of 26/01/2023
Overseas
In December 2022, the accident indicators for french overseas are lower than in December 2021 and higher than in December 2019:
- 262 injury accidents (218 in the DOM and 44 in the COM-NC) against 286 injury accidents in December 2021 (239 and 47 respectively);
- 356 injured (284 in the DOM and 72 in the COM-NC) against 372 injured in December 2021 (322 and 50 respectively);
- 23 fatalities (13 in the DOM and 10 in the COM-NC) compared to 36 fatalities in December 2021 (27 and 9 respectively).
ns : évolution non significative
Source : ONISR - Données relatives aux accidents corporels enregistrés par les forces de l'ordre - Champs géographique : DOM + COM + Nouvelle-Calédonie