An amendment voted by the Senate opens the door for a return to 90 km/h speed limit on certain roads.
A first step towards a return to the 90 km/h speed limit on certain roads?
The Senate has just passed an amendment allowing local officials to set the maximum speed limit on secondary roads.
This amendment gives competence to the presidents of county councils (for departmental roads) and to prefects (for national roads) in order to raise the maximum authorised speed. Their decision must be taken after an opinion of the departmental road safety commission.
In Seine-et-Marne, we are already working
The amendment does not apply for the moment because it must be examined by the National Assembly. What should not happen before July according to France 3.
Manager of the largest road network of Ile-de-France (4330 km of roads), the President of the Department of Seine-et-Marne, Patrick Septiers, welcomes the adoption by the Senate this amendment of the Mobilities Act.
“This decision is fully in line with what I have been calling for for several months: give local elected representatives the opportunity to pass some roads at 90 km/h and get out of this uniform measure that has caused a strong misunderstanding of our fellow citizens,” reacts Patrick Septiers.
The Department of Seine-et-Marne has already launched a study to determine which portions of roads could be increased to 90 km/h.
No effect 80 km / h in Seine-et-Marne
“We will be in a few weeks in a position to make concrete proposals to the state, said Patrick Septiers. These arrangements would be made on a case by case basis, to combine mobility and safety, depending on the configuration and the dangerousness of the roads. “
For the President of the Department, “a very large majority of the departmental roads of Seine-et-Marne went to 80 km/h last July. However, the inhabitants of the department are very dependent on their car, they take twice as long as other Parisians to get to their place of work. For the Seine-et-Marnais, it’s the double penalty: being forced to long car trips to the employment areas of the capital and having to waste even more time on secondary roads limited to 80 km/h. For the time being, no real beneficial effect has been measured on road mortality in Seine-et-Marne. On the contrary, the latest figures of accidents in the department attest. “
The President of the Department of Seine-et-Marne claims, in addition, “greater severity against dangerous driving, phone driving, alcohol and drugs.”
The Seine-et-Marne has recorded 72 deaths on the roads in 2018. If the number of deaths is decreasing, it is not the historical record in the department despite the decline in speed.
