November 2021 Road Safety dashboard

Mainland

221 people were killed on the roads of mainland France in November 2021 compared to 173 in November 2020, i.e. 48 more people killed. This result is down compared to November 2019 (36 fewer killed, i.e. -14%) and also down compared to the average for November 2015-2019 (-18%).

The number of injury accidents recorded by police forces was 4,366 in November 2021, higher than last year's result (2,878 accidents, that is to say 1,488 more injury accidents than in November 2020) but lower than the result for November 2019 (4,625 accidents, that is to say 259 fewer injury accidents and a decrease of -6%).

5,421 people were injured in November 2021, a result +61% higher than November 2020 and -6% lower than November 2019: there were 3,370 injured in November 2020 and 5,743 injured in November 2019.

Travel during November 2021 was much higher than in November 2020 (an average of +35% compared to November 2020, according to Cerema's traffic dataviz, due to the second lockdown of the population related to the the pandemic). Thus, the results concerning road accidents reflect the resumption of mobility of the French, but certainly less than during the months of November before the pandemic.

^{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 08/12/2021}

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

In November 2021, no measures restricting the mobility of French people were in place in mainland France, whereas in November 2020 a lockdown was in place with a first reduction on 28 November 2020. Fatalities in November 2021 are thus much higher than those recorded in November 2020, but remains lower than the average of November of the last 5 years before the pandemic.

Pedestrian fatalities in November 2021 are higher than those recorded in November 2020 and lower than those in November 2019. Thus, 43 pedestrians were killed in November 2021, 13 more than in November 2020 and 9 fewer than in November 2019. Pedestrian fatalities for this month of November 2021 are lower than those observed in November over the 5-year pre-pandemic average.

Cyclist fatalities for November 2021, with 11 cyclists killed, are in the same range as those recorded in November 2020 and November 2019.

Motorcyclist fatalities, with 26 fatalities, are slightly below the pre-pandemic level in November.

Car user fatalities are higher than in November 2020 and lower than pre-pandemic levels: 119 car users were killed in November 2021 compared to 84 in November 2020 (35 more fatalities) and 147 in November 2019 (28 fewer fatalities). Car user fatalities in 2021 remained well below the car user fatalities recorded in 2019 in every month (about 30 fewer fatalities on average per month), with the exception of last July.

9 children or teenagers were killed on the roads in November 2021, which is similar to November 2020 and significantly lower than November 2019. Since the beginning of the year, child or teenager fatalities are much higher than in 2020 or 2019 (+27% and +20% higher, respectively), but in the same range as previous years.

42 young people aged 18-24 were killed on the roads in November 2021, 10 more than in November 2020 and 13 more than in November 2019; but this result remains close to the average for November in the 5 pre-pandemic years.

61 seniors people aged 65 or over were killed on the roads in November 2021, a number of fatalities that is higher than in November 2020 (19 more fatalities) but much lower than in November before the pandemic (20 fewer fatalities on average).

In urban areas, fatalities are similar to November 2020 and lower than November 2019, with respectively 2 more and 15 fewer fatalities.
On rural roads, fatalities are significantly higher than in November 2020, with 42 more fatalities, and lower than in November 2019 with 17 fewer 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 08/12/2021}

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 1,333 fatalities compared to 1,622 for the entire year of 2019, which represent a decrease of -18% over almost two years.

Pedestrian fatalities also dropped sharply over this period: an estimated 398 pedestrians were killed in the last 12 months compared to 483 for the entire year of 2019, which means a drop of -18%.

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, who have severely limited their movements during lockdowns, but also the younger age groups, strongly affected by the trips restrictions related to curfews. During these first 11 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 -9% with 561 killed in the last 12 months compared to 615 fatalities in 2019. The sharp decline in moped rider fatalities has been maintained since the beginning of 2021, -34% compared to 2019 with 89 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 -11% in the last 12 months compared to 2019 (491 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 : 223 cyclists were killed in the last 12 months, an increase of +19% compared to 2019. 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 of heavy goods vehicle users is stable, as maintaining their activity remains essential for the daily life of the French people and companies. However, it remains at a leverl that has been reduced by almost half in 10 years.

^{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  08/12/2021}

Overseas

In November 2021, the road safety indicators for french overseas are higher than in November 2020 except for injured, and lower than in November 2019 except for injury accidents:

• 272 injury accidents compared to 252 injury accidents;
• 316 injured compared to 322 injured;
• 30 fatalities  compared to 24 fatalities.
   

^{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 08/12/2021}