On a half-century scale, the effectiveness of the road safety policy is indisputable and its results spectacular: from more than 18,000 killed on the roads of France in 1972, that number fell to less than 3,500 in 2018 and 2019. It is therefore an indisputable success.
There are signs, however, that a limit may have been reached. On the one hand, since 2013, the number of deaths has stopped decreasing. While the number of deaths per million inhabitants rose in France from 69.4 to 52.2 between 2008 and 2013, it remained broadly stable until 2019. On the other hand, France’s position in relation to its European neighbours has slipped (ranking 14th out of 28).
At the end of its evaluation work, the Court considers that the major national measures targeting behaviour will increasingly need to be supplemented by using a diverse range of other means of action, involving vehicles, signage, and infrastructure. These measures should take place within a framework that has been redesigned in the light of changes in mobility and technologies. The Court makes 18 recommendations.
