In 2024, the road network in mainland France will cover nearly 1.1 million kilometres, including approximately 710,000 km of metropolitan roads and municipal roads. Traffic on a network and the number of accidents on that network are not correlated with its length. The network in urban areas is the most accident-prone. In 2024, 55% of accidents involving personal injury recorded by the police occurred in urban areas.
Accidents in urban areas account for 32% of fatalities, 46% of serious injuries MAB3+ and 53% of minor or moderate injuries. In total, 39% of fatalities occur in accidents without a third party, compared with 43% outside urban areas.
In 2024, vulnerable road users accounted for 67% of fatalities and 83% of serious injuries in urban areas. Motorists accounted for 28% of fatalities: with 291 deaths in 2024, the toll has been rising in recent years (+5% compared to 2019). Pedestrians are the category of road users most often killed in urban areas, with 321 deaths in 2024. Of these victims, 55% were hit by a light vehicle, 26% by a light commercial vehicle or heavy goods vehicle, 4% by a bus or coach and finally 4% by a two-wheeled motor vehicle. In total, 46% of pedestrians killed in urban areas were aged 75 or over; this proportion is much higher than on other road networks (9%).
Senior citizens account for 39% of deaths in urban areas, with 396 victims aged 65 and over.
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