Sharp drop in fatalities on French roads in May, June

A total 294 people were killed on French roads in June, according to official figures for the last month before the speed limit fell from 90kph to 80kph.

The June total is 30 fewer, or 9.3% down, on the same month in 2017 and follows an 8.4% fall in May from May 2017.

The figures for May and June were released by Sécurité Routière in a statement two weeks after speed limits on some 400,000km of secondary routes across the country were cut.

Road deaths fell 6.3% in the second quarter of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017 - meaning 57 fewer lives lost - and follows the first quarter where the road toll was down 6.1%.

Including overseas territories, June saw 306 deaths and 6,923 people were injured, figures that are also down on June 2017, according to road safety watchdog the Observatoire national interministériel de la sécurité routière.

Last year 3,684 died on French roads and 76,840 were injured.