French village limits speed to 20 km/h - could this extend across France?

A town in northern France has become the latest to cut speed limits to 20 km/h on several town centre roads in a bid to improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians. Could this happen everywhere?

The town of Coignières (Yvelines, Ile-de-France) has had the lower limit in place since January 2025. 

Mayor Didier Fischer told specialist website AutoPlus: “This one-year trial aims to improve the safety of vulnerable road users in these shared areas. It is also forbidden for cyclists and motorised vehicles to ride against the flow of traffic.”

He added that the main aim is to improve safety and enable different forms of transport to better co-exist. Authorities plan to maintain the limit until January 2026, when the scheme will be re-evaluated. If it is considered successful it will remain in place.

Some residents have criticised the move, reports AutoPlus. 

One posted on X (Twitter): “Banning all traffic would be simpler”, and another said “soon pedestrians will be faster than cars”. Another added that electric scooters will soon become “more dangerous than cars,” as they can theoretically travel faster than 20 km/h.

The town is one of the first in the region to set this slower limit in its centre, apart from central Paris, where the speed limit is now 30 km/h in all streets, with some exceptions.

Earlier this month, Paris also reduced speed limits by a further 10 km/h almost everywhere for a day, meaning that central road speeds dropped to 20 km/h, while motorways with a top speed of 130 km/h were reduced to 110 km/h, those of 110 km/h to 90 km/h, and those usually at 90 km/h to 70 km/h or 80 km/h.

The new limits were communicated by digital road signs. The measure was intended to reduce air pollution.

Speed limits elsewhere

The ‘normal’ speed limit in towns is typically 50 km/h, but increasing numbers of authorities are reducing the limit to 30 km/h, particularly in areas of higher risk (for example where there are more pedestrians and crossings).

Some towns have gone even lower, to 20 km/h, including Bourg-lès-Valence (Drôme) near schools and a park, and in the historical centre of Eysines (near Bordeaux) and 5% of roads in the centre of Lyon.

However, the majority have not gone as low as 20 km/h. So far, it appears that 30 km/h is the lowest limit implemented in many towns nationwide, and it is not clear whether 20 km/h will become more common in future.

For example, this map shows the towns and areas that have imposed 30 km/h speed limits on their roads, and when they made the change.

There are now 440 towns in France with this speed limit on the majority of their roads, the map shows, on the website Ville30.org. This is 10 times’ more than 10 years ago.

It comes after the ‘loi Notre’ of 2015 gave local and police authorities the option to choose a speed limit other than 50 km/h on all or part of its roads.

The interactive map and website also highlights 30 towns considered to be “pioneers” in the lower limit of 30 km/h.

Read also: Why has speed limit changed to 30 km/h near my French home?

Safer lower limit

The lower limits are considered to be much safer, particularly on roads that have a high number of pedestrians and cyclists, or which are near a school or pedestrianised zone.

Accidents in towns account for 32% of people killed in road incidents, 45% severely injured, and 59% of those slightly injured in France, found a 2022 study from government climate and urban planning agency Cerema.

The lower limit also reduces the risk of serious accidents. If a vehicle hits a person at 50 km/h, their chances of survival are 20%. If they are hit at 30 km/h, their chances of survival rise to 90%.

Driving at 30 km/h instead of 50 km/h increases the driver's field of vision by around 30 degrees, and halves the braking distance needed to stop, states Cerema.

Criticism

However, some driving associations have criticised the speed reductions.

“I find it a bit of a shame. When you go from 50 km/h to 30 km/h, there is almost no change in the average speed,” said Pierre Chasseray, spokesperson for the group 40 millions d'automobilistes, to RMC radio.

“In the cities that have implemented this, there is a drop of 1 km/h, it makes very little sense,” he claimed. “It feels like this is a highly political measure designed to make noise, to give the impression that we are protecting the population.”

He said that the only way to reduce speeds effectively was to “make road improvements”.