“Encouraging figures”: the number of deaths and injuries in road accidents is decreasing in France

Une tendance à la baisse sur tous les axes routiers. Midi Libre – MICHAEL ESDOURRUBAILH

Les décès sont même désormais à leur plus bas niveau depuis près d'un siècle, hors année de pandémie.

This is the most spectacular trend announced on Thursday by the National Interministerial Road Safety Observatory (ONISR): according to its annual report, still provisional, in 2023, 3,170 people died on the roads of mainland France.

This is the lowest figure recorded for almost a century, precisely since 1926, excluding the year of pandemic, notes Libération.

Des "encouraging figures",greeted, Thursday, the interministerial delegate for Road Safety, Florence Guillaume, during a press conference given from the Center for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation of Bobigny (CMPR).

An exception for scooter type vehicles

The number of people who died decreased by 3% last year (-97 killed), a trend which is confirmed in all categories, except for users of ;motorized personal travel devices (EDPm), for example scooters, which are currently very popular (42 killed for EDPm, + 7 %).

The mortality of motorists, on the other hand, is in decline, with 1,525 deaths (-40 deaths), as is that of users of motorized two-wheelers with 707 killed (-11 deaths).

Much fewer pedestrians killed

The number of cyclists killed has once again crossed the 200 death mark for the third year in a row (226), but it is decreasing significantly (-8%).

The drop is even more marked among pedestrians with 440 deaths (- 10%). The situation is also improving on all road networks: -2.7% on roads outside urban areas (1,881 deaths), -2.2% for roads in urban areas (1,016 killed) and – 7% on motorways (273 deaths), even if mortality there remains 4% higher than in 2019.

There are also fewer injuries in road accidents. Their number is "estimated at 232,000 in 2023, down -1.9% compared to 2022", underlined, Thursday, Florence Guillaume, during her press conference.

The creation of a road homicide

While the number of seriously injured has declined slightly (-0.7%).

These data were made public the day after the adoption by the National Assembly, at first reading, of the creation of a road homicide, for accidents committed with aggravating circumstances.

The bill also increases the penalties incurred for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, with a systematization of license suspensions and vehicle immobilizations.