For three months in a row now, fatal incidents have been on the rise on French roads, bringing the total tally of deaths to almost 2,850 in 2023 so far. 

Compared to November 2022, last month saw a 16% increase in the number of deaths related to traffic accidents in mainland France. Of the 281 people who lost their lives, data from the Observatoire National Interministériel de la Sécurité Routière agency shows that 56 of these were pedestrians.  

Although September, October and November all recorded increases compared to the same months in 2022, the story had been different for the first eight months of the year and, overall, fatalities remain 5% lower than they were at this point last year, with 2,846 officially recorded.  

Serious injuries are also down on 2022 figures, decreasing year-on-year by 2%. 1,183 were recorded in the month of November, while a total of 4,535 traffic accidents were reported.  

“If the accident figures for 2023 are at this stage showing a downward trend, those for the last quarter were on the rise. As such, it is important that road users are ever aware of their responsibilities as drivers as we near the end of the year,” notes Florence Guillaume, an interministerial delegate for road safety.  

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Photo source: Clark Van Der Beken, Unsplash