Alcohol, drugs: Rising main causes of fatal motorway crashes in France
Mixing alcohol and drugs with medication was also a major factor, and ‘drivers are taking more risks’, a road safety association states
"Drivers are taking more and more risks," said road safety association Asfa
Ronald Rampsch/Shutterstock
Fatal motorway accidents in France are increasingly being caused by drivers consuming alcohol, drugs, and medication before taking the wheel, and are the main cause of fatal accidents, new figures show.
In its new road safety report (2023), the Association des sociétés françaises d'autoroutes (Asfa) states that those under the influence of these three types of substances were implicated in 31% of fatal accidents last year, up from 26% in 2022, and 27.7% in 2021.
Asfa uses data from emergency services - which intervene at each fatal collision - to help establish its figures.
These behaviours were also the leading cause of fatal accidents on motorways, the figures show.
Taking medication before driving, or taking it with alcohol and/or drugs, was the cause of the remaining fatal accidents, Asfa said.
The study found that the majority of these accidents take place at night or at the weekend, suggesting a direct link between people drinking alcohol and taking drugs recreationally, and then driving.
“55% [of fatal accidents] take place between 21:00 and 06:00, and 43% happen at the weekend,” the report states.
Younger drivers
Younger drivers are also disproportionately represented in fatal crashes, the figures show, accounting for half of those involved, despite only making up 17% of the total driving population.
Of fatal collisions involving drivers under 35, 52% are caused by excessive speed, 50% by dangerous ‘manoeuvres’, 44% due to alcohol, drugs, or medication. 15% are caused by distraction due to using a smartphone or tablet while driving.
‘Drivers taking more risks’
Asfa said that although motorways remain the safest type of road (there were 181 fewer deaths on motorways in 2023, a drop of 7% compared to 2022) the figures showed a worrying trend.
“Drivers are taking more and more risks,” said Christophe Boutin at Asfa, in the report. “They are also respecting safety distances [on the road] less, queuing up too closely, and the increased aggression we are seeing in our society is also showing up on the motorways.”
Other causes
Excessive speed was identified as the second-highest cause of fatal collisions, and this is also rising (19% of crashes in 2023, compared to 16% in 2022).
This is partly due to the reduced effectiveness of speed cameras, said Mr Boutin, as these are now clearly marked on drivers’ GPS systems, meaning that they increasingly slow down for the camera, and speed everywhere else.
Similarly, Asfa predicted that distraction by electronics would continue to grow.
“We fear that inattentiveness at the wheel will continue to increase over the next few years with the proliferation of on-board equipment and the services they offer,” Asfa said.
Pedestrians are also a rising cause of accidents, the figures show, at 18%.
Drop in driving fatigue
In contrast, driver fatigue has dropped to sixth place in terms of causing collisions (13%), a dramatic decrease from first place just three years ago.
These results are “encouraging”, said Mr Boutin, and are due to the success of public campaigns against driving while tired.
