New crackdown on wrong-way drivers
Better signs and road markings aim to put a stop to the 'frequent phenomenon' of drivers travelling the wrong way
ROAD authorities are experimenting with new safety measures after a spate of accidents involving cars travelling in the wrong direction along motorways.
The improvements come after a report by road authority Diro (Direction Interdépartementale des Routes de l'Ouest) found wrong-way driving was a "frequent phenomenon" on French roads.
Better signage and road markings will be introduced at accident black spots in the west of France as part of a pilot scheme that could be extended nationwide.
There will also be new illuminated displays at junctions that will flash a warning message when a car joins a motorway using an exit slip-road.
Service stations and rest areas are also common accident spots. New signs and concrete blocks will guide drivers who rejoin the motorway in the right direction.
In Brittany alone, 140 vehicles were stopped by police last year for driving the wrong way along a motorway.
Three recent accidents in the south of France have reignited the debate about motorway safety.
An unlicensed driver heading the wrong way up the A620 near Toulouse was killed this weekend, and four other people injured in the crash.
Four people were killed on the A9 in the Hérault last week when a drunk van driver travelling in the wrong direction collided with three cars.
And another four people died on the A7 in an accident caused by a drunk-driver heading home from a nightclub near Aix-en-Provence.
