Isère to restore 90km/h speed limit on 3,000km of roads

Isère, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, is to restore more of its roads to a 90km/h speed limit with up to 3,000km of roads affected.

The department joins a growing number of local authorities that have reversed the national 80km/h speed limit reduction introduced in 2018.

The 2018 reform reduced the speed limit from 90km/h to 80km/h on certain two-way roads without a central divider in an effort to improve road safety.

However, the measure proved highly unpopular. Critics argued it led to frustrated drivers making risky overtaking manoeuvres, particularly in rural areas where people rely heavily on their cars. Supporters of the law, meanwhile, said the lower limit was necessary to improve safety.

In 2019, the government changed the rules again, allowing departments to restore the 90km/h limit on eligible roads if they so wished, provided they carried out safety assessments and followed the required procedures. 

Since then, 52 departments, including Isère, in metropolitan France have now partially or fully reversed the 80km/h limit. 

It means around 61,000 kilometres (about 15%) of the roughly 400,000 kilometres of roads affected by a reduction have (or will soon) returned to 90km/h.

Some departments, such as Gard, in southern France, decided not to go ahead with an increase, despite earlier reports that it may join the list of departments reversing the 80km/h limit. 

Isère to restore 90km/h on more than 3,000km of roads

The Isère department announced the upcoming change after receiving a favourable opinion from its Departmental Road Safety Commission (CDSR), a consultative body that provide advise on road safety measures.

It follows an initial phase in 2022, when the department restored the 90km/h speed limit on 167km of roads, including former national roads and newly-built diversions.

However, the new limit will not apply everywhere. Around 45km of roads will see their speed limit reduced to 70km/h, while a further around 2km of roads will see their limit drop to 50km/h because of specific safety concerns, particularly around hamlets, built-up areas and accident-prone sections.

The changes can prove confusing for motorists, especially near departmental borders where a driver can leave a department where roads have returned to 90km/h and quickly enter another where the 80km/h limit still applies. For example, while Isère is preparing to restore 90km/h on thousands of kilometres of roads, the neighbouring departments of Drôme and Savoie have not made the same change. 

How does a driver know which road is 90km/h and which is 80km/h?

There is currently no official national map showing every road affected by the changes. Where a road has been returned to 90km/h, local authorities must install signs indicating the higher limit. If no 90km/h sign is displayed, drivers should assume the limit is 80km/h. 

Jean-Pierre Barbier, president of the Isère department, welcomed the CDSR’s approval, saying the decision marked the fulfilment of a campaign promise.

“We committed in 2021 to bringing back the 90km/h speed limit in Isère, and this will become a reality from January 2027,” he said.

He added that drivers should continue to take care on the roads.

“The people of Isère will soon be able to enjoy this good news while continuing to remain vigilant behind the wheel. Road safety is everyone’s responsibility.”

The Isère authorities said analysis of accident data showed that the 80km/h limit introduced in 2018 had not produced a significant improvement in road safety on departmental roads.

Drivers should note that the current 80km/h limit remains in place on the roads concerned until January 2027.

The return, though, remains controversial.

In its evaluation of the return to 90km/h on certain departmental roads, road safety experts at the Observatoire national interministériel de la sécurité routière (ONISR) estimated that the measure was associated with 74 additional deaths in 2021 on the networks studied, corresponding to a 13.1% increase in fatalities. 

The findings have been disputed by supporters of the reversals, who argue that local road conditions should be taken into account. 

Meanwhile, final ONISR figures show that 1,973 people died on roads outside built-up areas in 2025, 49 more than in 2024 (+2.5%). 

In total, 3,515 people died on French roads in 2025, including 3,263 in mainland France and 252 in overseas territories, an increase of 2.4% compared with 2024. 

French roads remain more deadly than those in the UK for a combination of reasons, including the extensive rural road network and the higher proportion of fatal crashes occurring on these roads, alongside factors such as speed and alcohol. 

The interactive map below enables you to check which departments have overturned the 2018 law.

It shows the percentage of roads in the departments that have introduced a 90km/h limit.