ALMOST half of French départements have decided to increase the speed limit on some or all of their departmental roads, from 80 km/h to 90 km/h.
The move comes just four years after the French government announced the reduction of the speed limit across France to 80 km/h, but left open the option for local officials to return to the higher limit.
Rent a car when driving in France
The Puy-de-Dôme is the most recent département to make the decision to return the speed limit of its 6,940 kilometres of departmental roads to 90 km/h.
It joins Allier, Aveyron, Cantal, Creuse and Corrèze in returning to the 90 km/h limit and these will be joined by the Ardèche on 1 September, 2022, when it returns to the higher limit.
Map of speed limits in France
Road safety campaign group, La Ligue de Défense des Conducteurs, has said it is disappointed by the decision of many local officials to increase the speed limit on roads, and is calling for a return to the 80 km/h limit across France.
The campaign group has produced a map showing the areas of France where all or part of the departmental road network is now operating under the new speed limit of 90 km/h.
The group says that different départements having different speed limits is also a problem for drivers as many won’t be completely aware of what speed they should be driving at when crossing borders.
And in a further breakout of the speed limit changes, the group has produced a table that shows the percentage of roads in the different départements of France that are now operating at the increased speed limit.
The following have yet to announce any decision – Essone, Drôme, Gironde, Landes, Pas-de-Calais, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Vendée
I must admit, here in the south of the Dordogne, we butt up against two other départements, and whilst some of the roads in the Dordogne have gone up to 90 km/h, the two adjoining départements are currently remaining at 80 km/h.
Driving in France
Whilst driving in France is safe, speeding and dangerous driving is a real problem on the roads and are a cause of many of the accidents the country sees.
One of the key reasons for the initial move by the French government to cut the speed limit to 80 km/h was for safety, also claiming that people would save on fuel costs and add little additional time to the journey.
But many local drivers, especially in the countryside, said the reduction in the limit was of little to no use on quiet roads where population density was low and only added to a feeling that ‘city folk’ didn’t understand their way of life.
Rent a car when driving in France
