May 2022 Road Safety dashboard

In May 2022, 293 fatalities occurred 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

293 people were killed on the roads in mainland France in May 2022, compared with 216 in May 2021, i.e. 77 more people killed. This result is up sharply compared to May 2019 (50 more people killed, i.e. +21%) and is also up by +7% compared to the average for May 2015-2019.

The number of injury accidents recorded by law enforcement was 5,039 in May 2022, higher than last year's result (465 more injury accidents than in May 2021) as well as the result for May 2019 (375 more bodily injury accidents, i.e. an increase of +8%).

6,270 people were injured in May 2022, a result +9% higher than in May 2021 and and +7% higher than in May 2019: 5,774 people were injured in May 2021 and 5,854 in May 2019.

Travel during May 2022 was higher than in May 2021 (by an average of +10% compared to May 2021, according to the Cerema traffic dataviz). Thus the results concerning road accidents reflect the strong recovery of French mobility compared to 2021, the number of fatalities, injuries and accidents is significantly higher than in most pre-pandemic May months, and equivalent to the May months of 2016 and 2017.

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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
08/06/2022

2022 road fatalities by transport mode, age, and road network

In May 2022, no measures restricting the mobility of the French are in place in metropolitan France, whereas last year a third confinement was in place until 3 May with a gradual reopening of the various locations throughout the month of May. Mortality in May 2022 is thus much higher than that recorded in May 2021 and even higher than that of May 2019; it is higher than the average for the months of May over the last five years before the pandemic (2015-2019).

Pedestrian fatalities in May 2022 are higher than those in May 2021 and similar to May 2019. Thus, 35 pedestrians were killed in May 2022, 10 more than in May 2021 and the same number as in May 2019.

Cyclist fatalities in May 2022, with 22 cyclists killed, were higher than those recorded in May 2021 and muche higher than in May 2019. This is one of the highest May fatalities in the last 10 years.

Motorcyclist fatalities, with 73 killed, are well above those in May 2021 and 2019. This result is also well above the level observed over 2015-2019.

Car user fatalities are much higher than in May 2021 and similar to May 2019: 130 car users were killed in May 2022 compared to 101 in May 2021 and 133 in May 2019 (i.e. respectively 29 more and 3 less fatalities). Car users fatalities in May 2022 has risen to the average for May 2015-2019.

21 children or teens were killed on the roadways in May 2022, which is higher than May 2021 and May 2019.

51 young people aged 18-24 were killed on the roads in May 2022, 18 more than in May 2021 and 11 more than in May 2019; this is higher than the prepandemic level.

64 senior citizens aged 65 or more died on the roads in May 2022, a higher death rate than in May 2021 (14 more fatalities) and similar to May in the 5 pre-pandemic years.

In urban areas, fatalities are higher than in May 2021 and in May 2019, with 18 and 22 more fatalities respectively.
In rural areas, fatalities are much higher than in May 2021, with 46 more fatalities, and higher than in May 2019, with 25 more fatalities. It reaches the level of the 2015-2019 average, years in which, apart from 2019, the speed limit on two-way roads was 90 km/h.

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ns: non-significant change
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
08/06/2022

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.

Car users usually account for half of the road deaths. Their fatalities over the last 12 months is estimated at 1,583 fatalities compared to 1,622 for the whole of 2019, i.e. an even lower result of -2%.

Pedestrian fatalities, which have been falling since March 2020, are tending to return to pre-pandemic levels: an estimated 472 pedestrians have died in the last 12 months, compared with 483 for the whole of 2019.

The fatalities of powered two-wheeler over the past 12 months are still lower than in 2019. Motorcyclist fatalities are down by -3% with 599 fatalities in the last 12 months compared to 615 fatalities in 2019. The sharp decline in moped rider fatalities has continued over these last 12 months, despite a rebound in May, down -15% compared to 2019, with 114 moped killed over the last 12 months compared to 134 in 2019; a fall which affects all age groups.

Fatalities among young adults aged 18-24, at high risk of serious road accidents, is now equivalent over the last 12 months to that recorded in 2019 (549 killed).

Compared to other trends, cyclist fatalities over the last 12 months are higher than in 2019: 242 cyclists were killed in the last 12 months, +29% compared to 2019. Indeed, the French show a preference for using individual means of transport for short trips in towns, but also practice leisure cycling in rural areas.

Finally, the number of fatalities among heavy goods vehicle users rose sharply in late 2021 and early 2022. It is up by +36% compared to 2019 but remains similar to the average of the years 2015-2019.

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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
08/06/2022

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 PMDs motorized injured is on an upward slope compared to 2019, as this mode of travel has grown. In the last 12 months, compared to 2019, the number of injured cyclists has increased by 15%, while the number of injured pedestrians and motorcyclists has decreased by -11% and -15%.

In rural areas, the biggest increase in injured over the last 12 months compared to 2019 is for cyclists, with +20%. The trend in motorised twowheelers injured is slightly up compared to 2019.

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ns: non-significant change
Data source : ONISR - Data on injury accidents recorded by police forces - Geographical area : France mainland
Labelled series (final data until 2021), 2022 provisional data as of
08/06/2022

Overseas

In May 2022, the accident indicators for french overseas are higher than in May 2021 and in May 2019, except for accidents number in May 2022 which is lower
than that of 2021:

  • 247 injury accidents compared to 261 injury accidents ;
  • 335 injured compared 276 injured ;
  • 23 fatalities compared to 19 fatalities.

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ns: non-significant change
Data source : ONISR - Data on injury accidents recorded by the police forces - Geographic scope: DOM + COM + New Caledonia
Final data until 2021, provisional data 2022 stopped on
08/06/2022