Speed limit

Anger as another area of France decides to return to 90 km/h on many roads

The measure is ‘anti-environmental’ and would worsen road safety, a campaign group says

Speed limits to be lowered on more Paris roads from November

Two sections of motorway in the Paris area will be lowered in a bid to reduce noise pollution

Paris mairie publishes first results from ring road speed drop to 50 km/h

The results are cautiously positive, after the speed drop was only introduced this month

news

Campaign to reduce speed limit to 30 km/h in all French towns

A road association says the limit would have a positive impact on safety, noise, and air pollution

New 50km/h motorway morning speed limit is idiotic, says French mayor

He criticised the rush-hour reduction saying it creates a major safety issue as some drivers slow down to keep to it and others do not

Motorway speed limits reduced in south of France: where and why?

The move, which affects four sections of major A-roads, has met local opposition with some saying drivers will be frustrated and go faster as a result

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

New rules have changed speed limits in certain ‘built-up areas’

Paris plans to reduce speed limit on outer ring road from 70 to 50km/h

The move aims to reduce environmental and noise pollution

MAP: where have (some) speed limits returned to 90km/h in France?

More than half of departments have now made changes although they do not apply on all eligible roads

Another French department returns to 90km/h limit on some roads

More than half of all departments have now reinstated the limit on at least some of their secondary roads, with the Var being the latest

Private radar cars on rise in France, see where plus current locations

We look at the type of vehicles used and the kind of roads they are usually found on

Speed limits now raised back up to 90km/h by most French departments

Local authorities have been assessing the risk and increasing limits since regaining control of secondary road speeds

How to keep track of changing speed limits on French secondary roads

We ask a lawyer who works with departments on implementing the changes

The French speed cameras that reward rather than punish

If drivers speed, a red light stops the traffic. If they respect the limit, it stays green

Central France department is latest to return to 90km/h speed limit

Authorities there say speed bears little relation to accident levels

We’ll resist a cut in motorway speed limit, say French car activists

Debates have resurfaced around reducing the speed limit on French motorways to 110km/h, which a leading drivers’ group says would be counterproductive when it comes to safety

Should French motorway speed limits be cut to 110km/h? Your feedback

The possibility of reducing the maximum limit from 130km/h has been receiving government and press attention in recent weeks

Winter tyres, 90km/h: Five November updates for drivers in France

From extended fuel discounts to snow tyres in certain departments, we look at what motorists should be aware of this month

French PM requests new study into reducing motorway speed to 110km/h

The idea was dismissed last year but has now resurfaced and is being cited as a way to save drivers money. A petition of opposition has been launched

MAP: French departments where roads are back to 90km/h speed limits

Puy-de-Dôme became the latest department to raise the limit from 80km/h yesterday

French road speed limit back to 90km/h across 42 departments

Puy-de-Dôme in central France is the latest to make the change to its secondary roads. Road safety bodies still advocate 80km/h

Speed cameras, tunnel signs: Five updates for drivers in France

Drivers are warned about a type of mobile motorway camera, another department returns to a 90km/h speed limit and more

Drivers in France may no longer lose licence points for minor speeding

The €135 or €68 fines would stay, however, as would point losses for more serious offences

Less obvious or clearer? New speed radar road signs roll out in France

The road safety agency says the two signs give information more ‘quickly and easily’ but a leading motorist organisation says they will trick drivers as less visible

What is the margin of tolerance for speed cameras in France?

Motorists who speed in France risk being caught not only by fixed cameras but also by independent radar cars

80 or 90km/h? French speed limit changes continue to cause confusion

A driving consumer group says 90% of people it polled are in favour of putting the general route départementale limit back up to 90km/h

37 French departments reinstate 90km/h limit

The French government imposed an 80km/h speed limit on all roads without central separation barriers in 2018

How can I stop cars speeding through my village in France?

Speed limits are the responsibility of the village mayor in France and are only changed under limited circumstances

France’s private speed camera cars: Where are they, who drives them?

There are currently around 225 private vehicles covering eight departments and operated by several companies

Private speed camera cars to be expanded across France

Cars run by private operators, rather than the police, are often popular models such as the Peugeot 308, Dacia Sandero and Citroën Berlingo to help them go undetected

Should France's 130km/h motorway speed limit be lowered?

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and presidential candidate says the limit is high. We look at how France’s limit compares to other countries

Has reducing the French speed limit to 80km/h saved lives?

A new study says that lowering the limit has not reduced deaths in contrast to claims from the government. Several roads - or parts of them - have since returned to a 90km/h limit

Appeal lodged against ‘arbitrary’ 30km/h speed limit in Paris

Residents, driver associations and shop keepers unconvinced by rationale behind lower limit introduced this summer to improve road safety and reduce nuisance noise

‘Macron’s ‘great planet’ is filling up with speed sign scrap metal’

In a fix: 33 departments have raised their ‘back’ roads back to 90, however as they cannot control the ‘main’ national roads, the speed limit actually remains slower

Speed trap captures runners breaking Paris’ new 30km/h limit

A concept store for runners is putting athletes through their paces while drivers complain saying the new limit means ‘it would be quicker to walk’

Speed limit set to lower to 30km/h in most of Paris from August 30

The change is intended to improve road safety and reduce noise but one of France’s main drivers’ associations says the move as ‘nonsensical, incomprehensible and dangerous’

France tests speed cameras that also check phone and seatbelt use

The new cameras will be smaller and more inconspicuous than current models and are being tested in Toulouse and areas of Doubs

Number of private speed camera cars set to double in France this year

It will bring the total number of speed camera cars up to 450, just under half of which will be operated by private companies

French driver got 33 fines due to average speed camera – What is this?

Woman argues she did not understand how the cameras worked, after dozens of fines arrived in a short space of time. Her family is fighting the case as the first ones took 10 months to arrive

Paris speed limit set to 30kph across most of capital

The limit, which already applied to 60% of the city centre roads, will extend across the majority of routes except for some major boulevards and the périphérique

Unmarked radar cars to quadruple in France by end of 2020

The number of patrolling unmarked radar cars currently used by the police and private firms under contract is set to rise significantly next year

Nantes latest city in France to set 30 kph limit in centre

The city of Nantes in western France has become the latest city in France to impose a 30 kph speed limit almost everywhere, after Grenoble and Lille, in an aim to reduce noise and pollution, and improve safety.

How to spot unmarked speed control cars on French roads

As unmarked police cars catch drivers speeding on French roads using infrared cameras, a new site is aiming to catalogue all unmarked "radar cars" currently being used in France.

France's 80kph speed limit saved 349 lives – official report

Lowering the national speed limit to 80kph from 90kph from June 2018 outside motorways and dual-carriageways saved 349 lives according to the government commission set up to examine the change.

French village latest to install ‘shock’ speed limit signs

A village in northeast France has become the latest to install “shock” road signs in a bid to persuade speeding road users into slowing down.

Minister in favour of lowering French motorway speed limit

A proposal to reduce motorway speed limits to 110 kph in France, put forward by the citizens' Climate Change Convention, was "personally" supported today (Monday June 22) by minister of transport and ecology, Elisabeth Borne.

First French department confirms return to 90kph limit

The Haute-Marne in eastern France has become the first department to officially change back to a 90kph speed limit on departmental roads, 18 months after the government first imposed a drop to 80kph.

Road deaths in France up almost 10% in January

The number of people who died on the roads in France jumped by almost 10% in January this year compared to January last year, a contrast to the “historically low” numbers seen in 2019.

Driver speeding at 230kph arrested in central France

A driver doing more than 230kph in an 80kph zone - more than 150kph over the speed limit - has been stopped and arrested by gendarmerie in central France.

France had ‘historic low’ of 3,239 road deaths in 2019

There was a “historically low” number of road deaths in France in 2019, according to interior minister Christophe Castaner, as debates over safety and speed limits continue.

90kph speed limit back in parts of France

Cutting it ‘hasn’t worked’

French village uses dark humour signs to stop speeding

A mayor in the north of France has installed some darkly comedic additions to the usual speed limit signs on a major road in his commune, to warn speeding drivers to slow down.

French nature group: ‘Drop motorway limit to 100kph’

Reducing speed limits by as much as 30kph on French motorways as a way to “protect the environment” and “improve public transport” would be a “winning strategy”, a French environmental group has said.

Vandalism blamed for huge fall in speed cash in France

Revenue from speed cameras is set to plummet this year and an “unprecedented wave of vandalism” is partly to blame.

French city Marseille holds uninsured vehicle record

A record one in five vehicles in the southern city of Marseille is being driven without insurance, it has emerged, just over a week after it was confirmed that speed cameras will now track uninsured vehicles.

No hurry to change back to 90kph limit on French roads

The controversial 80kph speed limit imposed last year on many departmental roads is likely to remain until at least the end of the year, despite government promises to change it in May.

Praise due for drivers

In 1972, road deaths in France exceeded 16,500. By 2018, bearing in mind more cars on more and faster roads, the figure (dependant on which source you use) is 3,488.

France's confusing speed limit signs a fine mess

"A gift for those collecting speeding fines"

French cars can now be fined in Ireland and Sweden

Drivers with French licence plates on their vehicle now risk a fine at home if they are caught speeding in two more countries - Ireland and Sweden - in addition to the 18 other nations already on the list.

Map of France shows roads changing speed back to 90kph

A map of departments in France that could change the speed limit from 80 kph to 90 kph on certain roads has been published, with the Haute-Marne (Grand-Est) the first to make the leap.

Tough new radars brought in as 80kph limit is eased

Some speed cameras damaged or destroyed by gilets jaunes protestors are to be replaced this year by new, more powerful radars tourelles.

Drivers must concentrate

I agree that a 90kph speed limit on narrow country roads is too high but an 80kph limit on major roads is too low.

How was trial a success?

RE your report ( 3 more regions to get unmarked speed cars , June issue), you say these cars are being rolled out “after a year-long trial in Normandy was deemed to be a success”.

French town sets 30 kph speed limit on all roads

A town near Bordeaux (Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine) has become the first of its size in France to introduce a 30 kph speed limit on all of its roads.

France votes potential return to 90 kph on some roads

The French Assembly has voted in favour of potentially reversing the 80 kph speed limit drop from 90 kph on some departmental roads, almost a year after the controversial measure was introduced.

French speeder made false plates to punish cousin

A driver is due in court this week after creating a false number plate to trick authorities into wrongly punishing his cousin for speeding.

EU law means black boxes in new cars from 2022

Motoring lobby group fears plans to install so-called black boxes in new cars in the EU will "punish" drivers for all minor traffic infringements

French regional roads back to 90kph

A decision to relax speed limit rules on 400,000km of departmental roads has been cautiously welcomed – but a national blanket rise in limits is unlikely.

France's speed limit u-turn "will not affect fines"

Road safety officials reject lawyer's claim that 'hundreds of thousands' of speeding cases could be cancelled after government u-turn on 90kph speed limits

Unmarked speed cars in three more French regions

Government unveils plan to extend use of private radar cars following trial in Normandy

French departments ready for speed limit changes

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe's announcement that local authorities could set own speed limits gets cautious welcome

90 limit was not too fast

Speed cameras in France are not the cause of the recent rise in road deaths.

France's third-largest city cuts periph speed limit

Speed on a busy stretch of ring road reduced in bid to cut pollution

‘Speed cameras of future’ to be installed in France

Hundreds of new generation “speed cameras of the future” are to be installed in France this year, and have been described as stronger and smarter than existing models.

France speed camera damage ‘cost €660m and death rise’

The destruction of speed cameras across France has cost the State €660 million from 2018 to 2019, and may also been linked to a 17% rise in road deaths to February 2019, official figures show.