Speed Limits in France

[lancepar]

Is this new?

 

Monday 29 November 2021

 

"Thirty-seven departments in France have re-introduced a 90km/h speed limit on some of their roads.

 

Since 1st July 2018, a maximum speed limit of 80km/h has been in place on all French highways that have no central barrier, and where road signs indicate no other speed limit applies. The limit on autoroutes remains the same (130km/h) - at least, for the time being."

 

French-Property.com

 

B-)

[cjrm1]

Reasonably. Its a bit of a nightmare as there is no consistency at all within departments, so not all roads that were 80 have been moved to 90. Best bet is if you don't see a sign saying 90 on the roads, the limit is 80.

[Charles]

Yes I stick to 80 if unsure. Doesn't stop the local peugeot 307s passing at mach 1 though (lol)

[Derek Uzzell]

It’s not particularly new information.

 

As a French road-safety measure, on 1 July 2018 the maximum speed limit on 2-lane roads was reduced from 90km/h to 80km/h. The rules for 3-lane roads were trickier...

 

If a 3-lane road has no ‘priority’ markings (ie. there’s a broken-line separating each lane from its neighbour and overtaking in either direction is down to the judgement of drivers) the speed limit for all 3 lanes will be 80km/h.

 

However, if the 3-lane road has a 2-lanes + 1-lane configuration, with a solid must-not-be-crossed line separating the former from the latter, the speed limit will be 90km/h on the former (2-lane) section and 80km/h on the latter (1-lane) section.

 

The widespread reduction to 80km/h did not go down well and - as this January 2020 forum discussion mentions

 

https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Confusion-in-France-/54279/

 

latitude was given (on December 24, 2019) to French departmental authorities to increase the 80km/h limit to 90km/h if they so chose, provided that they adhered to strict rules regarding the roads that would have the increased maximum.

 

By July 2021, 33 of the 101 French departments had chosen a return to 90km/h on some of their roads, with another 4 departments considering doing this. Apparently the total has now risen to 37 departments and this link (do your own translation!) provides relevant data.

 

https://www.largus.fr/actualite-automobile/la-carte-de-france-des-departements-qui-repassent-a-90-kmh-10488403.html

 

The requirements for a road limited to 80km/h to have that speed increased to 90 km/h are as follows:

 

Departments wishing to do so must obtain the approval of the Departmental Road Safety Commission after having fulfilled certain criteria:

 

Carry out an inventory of accident issues;

State the 90 km/h goal;

Make a first list of sections likely to go back to 90 km/h;

Evaluate the risks of the sections concerned according to the uses (traffic, speeds practiced, soft modes);

Define the compensatory measures to be adopted to limit the risks linked to the modification of the MAS on the sections envisaged;

Organize the follow-up before / after the return to 90 km/h.

 

For a return to 90 km/h departments must also undertake to develop the roads concerned to improve user safety. For example, they must install a central separator, build a larger track as well as safety and recovery areas .The return to 90 km/h therefore demands a significant cost for departments in favour of thie increase.