Reckless “yellow vests” have been blamed for a worrying spike in the number of road deaths in France despite a government decision to controversially lower the speed limit on the country’s B-roads.
France’s road safety department attributed a 17 per cent rise in fatal road accidents last month to the destruction of speed cameras by the “gilet jaunes”, many of whom went on a radar wrecking spree after the government cut the speed limit on secondary roads from 90 kilometre-per-hour to 80kph.
In February, 253 people died in road accidents in mainland France, some 37 more than the same month a year ago. The figure was also a significant increase from January, when 238 people were killed.
"The effect of the widespread damage to fixed radars is increasing and is being felt in the deterioration of behaviour across the network”, said the interior ministry’s road safety department in a statement.
The "yellow vest" revolt erupted in rural and suburban France in mid-November against the prospect of fuel tax hikes. But it swiftly morphed into a wider movement against President Emmanuel Macron’s economic reforms, seen as favouring rich city dwellers over the provincial poor.
Some say a major spark for the revolt was last July’s introduction of the new speed limit on secondary roads, seen by critics as another government wheeze to fleece rural motorists with fines.
Since then, almost 60 per cent of the country’s speed traps have damaged or destroyed. Authorities put the cost of repairing the radars at €40 million (£34m) and the lost revenue from speeding fines at €500 million.
While the number of wrecked radars has fallen since, government delegate on road safety Emmanuel Barbe said that motorists no longer feared being caught speeding, leading to faster and more reckless driving – a situation he called "extremely concerning".
The road death spike came just two months after authorities announced that the numbers killed had hit a record low last year, when some 3,250 people died in traffic accidents in mainland France – nine fewer than the previous record in 2013.
Edouard Philippe, the prime minister, said the link between the drop and the speed restrictions was “without ambiguity” and that 116 lives had been saved because of them. “We took a decision that we knew was unpopular,” he said. “We are proud of the results, of the lives saved.”
On Thursday, Pierre Chasseray of car defence group 40 Million Motorists said the drop had nothing to do with the new speed limits or cameras. “Today one can no longer say that the 80kph effect works," he said.
France’s majority Right senate has just voted to grant local authorities the power to rescind the new restrictions in certain cases. The government wants to keep them in place at least until next year so that their effect can be fully assessed.
The French League Against Road Violence called for the limit to be maintained and the cameras to be replaced. If the senatorial amendment was approved in the National Assembly, the group warned, it would result in an extra “150 deaths per year”.