52nd French department abandons 80km/h speed limit
Eure is latest to restore 90km/h limit on some roads
A law passed in December 2019 allows departmental authorities to increase speed limits back to 90km/h on routes that meet defined safety criteria and after local safety studies
Henry Saint John/Shutterstock
A total of 52 French departments have moved to reverse the nationwide 80km/h limit on secondary roads introduced in 2018, with Eure the latest to restore the former 90km/h limit.
The Normandy department of Eure was due to become the 52nd to join this trend on February 9, 2026, following a council vote citing an absence of clear safety benefits from the lower limit.
A law passed in December 2019 allows departmental authorities to increase speed limits back to 90km/h on routes that meet defined safety criteria and after local safety studies.
The flexibility has produced a patchwork of limits across France, with 80 km/h remaining the default where no change has been enacted.
Departments that have reinstated 90km/h speed limits
The following departments have reverted all or part of their secondary network from 80km/h to the 90km/h.
Note: While 52 departments have formally opted to allow a return to 90 km/h since 2019, only 43 have implemented signposted changes on their road networks to date. Others have approved the principle but not yet applied it, or have made only very limited changes.
Departments where 90km/h is implemented on most roads
| Allier (03) | Ardèche (07) | Aveyron (12) | Cantal (15) |
| Corrèze (19) | Creuse (23) | Lozère (48) | Puy-de-Dôme (63) |
Departments with partial but implemented 90km/h sections
| Ain (01) | Aisne (02) | Ardennes (08) | Charente (16) | Charente-Maritime (17) |
| Côte-d’Or (21) | Doubs (25) | Dordogne (24) | Gers (32) | Haute-Loire (43) |
| Haute-Marne (52) | Haute-Saône (70) | Hautes-Pyrénées (65) | Indre (36) | Indre-et-Loire (37) |
| Jura (39) | Loir-et-Cher (41) | Loiret (45) | Maine-et-Loire (49) | Marne (51) |
| Mayenne (53) | Meuse (55) | Morbihan (56) | Nièvre (58) | Orne (61) |
| Sarthe (72) | Saône-et-Loire (71) | Seine-et-Marne (77) | Tarn (81) | Tarn-et-Garonne (82) |
| Deux-Sèvres (79) | Vienne (86) | Vosges (88) | Yonne (89) | Territoire de Belfort (90) |
Departments yet to implement 90km/h change
| Hautes-Alpes (05) | Landes (40) | Manche (50) | Meurthe-et-Moselle (54) | Var (83) | Vendée (85) |
| Hérault (34) | Eure (27) | | | | |
What this means for drivers
Drivers must remain attentive to signage, as 80km/h remains the national rule on bidirectional secondary roads without central separation, and 90km/h applies only where explicitly indicated.
This patchwork approach has raised concerns about driver confusion and uneven safety outcomes, but has been welcomed in many rural areas as better aligning speed limits with road quality and travel needs.
