-
British man proud to also carry Paris Olympics torch in France
Alastair Rutt says he is honoured to represent Great Britain - although he is a little nervous after a knee injury
-
Thousands of drivers in France to get late speed tickets due to IT bug
Over 600,000 drivers are set to receive fines for small infractions in 2023
-
Explore French museums for free this Saturday evening
Giant game of Cluedo, escape games and many other unique events on offer as over 1,000 museums stay open late for La Nuit Européennes des Musées
Speed limit cut 'won't work' - survey
Two out of three believe planned speed limit cut on secondary roads is more about making money than saving lives
Two out of three people in France believe cutting the speed limit on departmental roads to 80kph will have little effect on road safety, according to a survey.
The poll, published a day before the Comité interministériel de sécurité routière is expected to announce that the speed limit will be cut along some 400,000km of secondary roads, found that most people believe the measure is more to do with increasing revenue through fines rather than road safety.
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has already voiced his support for cutting the speed limit, saying he is prepared to be "unpopular" in an attempt to cut road fatalities, which have . He told Journal Du Dimanche that he "understands the arguments" of motorists angry at the plans, but that it is intended "to save lives".
"There are 3,500 deaths and 70,000 wounded a year, 70,000! After decades of progress, our results have deteriorated. Well, I refuse to consider this as a fate," he said.
But motorists' lobby group 40 millions d’automobilistes has pointed out that a Danish experiment conducted in Denmark, in which the speed limit was increased from 80kph to 90kph on a portion of the secondary network, cut road deaths by 13% over two years.
A representative sample of 1,000 French people aged 18 and over took part in the online YouGov survey for news website 20minutes.fr
Stay informed:
Sign up to our free weekly e-newsletter
Subscribe to access all our online articles and receive our printed monthly newspaper The Connexion at your home. News analysis, features and practical help for English-speakers in France