Record rise in driving fines in France: what offences and how caught
Speeding on rural and other non-city roads feature highly
While fewer fines were issued due to detection by speed cameras, police officers issued more, resulting in the record number
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A record number of driving fines were issued in 2023, according to data recently released by the French road safety watchdog.
Driving fines can be issued directly by national, local or municipal police officers and gendarmes - or following detection by traffic cameras.
Read more: French speed cameras set to detect more types of offences
More than 30 million driving fines were issued in 2023 - the highest number ever recorded in France, reports the Observatoire national interministériel de la sécurité routière (ONISR).
While the number of fines resulting from detection by speed cameras was slightly lower than in 2017 (the second-highest), police officers issued more, culminating in the record year.
It must be noted that the figures from ONISR do not account for certain parking fines (forfaits post-stationnement), of which there were around 13 million in 2023.
The record year raised more than €2billion for the government, figures released by France’s Cour des Comptes earlier this year show.
Read more: Driving fine bonanza as France increases number of speed cameras
Speeding fines most common
There are over 1,000 infractions that can result in fines, however speeding fines accounted for 57% of the total issued in 2023.
The vast majority of speeding fines resulted from automatic detection by speed cameras - over 16 million - with the remainder issued directly by police and gendarmes.
There are between 4,200 and 4,600 radars in operation, according to car information website L'Argus.
The next highest figure (combined) was for parking in illegal spaces, with more than 7 million being issued, mostly by municipal police officers.
Some penalties saw a huge increase on previous figures, such as driving in a bus lane – just over 300,000 fines were given for this, an increase of 3,000% over 2017 numbers.
Fines for people caught driving without insurance also increased by 400% compared to seven years before.
Missing out on the top 20 (given below) is fines for driving under the influence of drugs, of which there were around 127,000 cases of in 2023.
This is 58% higher than in 2017, and only slightly below the number of people stopped for driving whilst under the influence of alcohol (168,520, three quarters of which were over the legal limit).
France’s most common driving infractions in 2023:
- Speeding less than 20km/h over speed limit outside of urban areas: 12,154,964
- Speeding less than 20km/h over speed limit in urban areas: 3,646,288
- Stopping or parking on a public highway: 1,182,820
- Parking a vehicle on a pavement: 1,022,962
- Parking without showing validation of payment: 994,103
- Speeding when the limit is between 20km/h and 29km/h: 825,358
- Driving without a valid insurance vignette (no longer required in 2024): 574,876
- Using a mobile phone whilst driving: 555,146
- Driving through a red light: 528,075
- Driving in a bus lane: 521,461
- Parking in a space reserved for deliveries: 426,851
- Parking in a space prohibited by police or a by-law: 387,678
- Double-parking: 327,717
- Parking in front of another vehicle and blocking them:310,798
- Driving a vehicle without a valid contrôle technique: 301,118
- Parking in a disabled spot without a valid badge: 247,774
- Parking in a way that disrupts pedestrians: 245,401
- Driving an uninsured vehicle: 243,263
- Speeding when the limit is between 30km/h and 39km/h: 239,238
- Driving or parking on a cycle lane: 202,737
