Global InformationSpeed limits in France information
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French roads have a variable maximum speed limit that depends on weather conditions. In dry weather, roads in urban areas have a default speed limit of 50 km/h, and outside urban areas have the following limits:
- single carriageway roads have a default speed limit of 80 km/h,
- dual carriageway roads, with a central reservation between the two carriageways, have a default limit of 110 km/h,
- Autoroutes (motorways) built to the normal design standard have a default limit of 130 km/h.[note 1][1]
On single-carriageway rural roads, a maximum speed limit of 90 km/h applies for a direction of traffic if at least two lanes are provided, but must be explicitly signed as such. (For a 3-lane road, with a passing lane in one direction, this means the speed limit may be different for each direction of traffic.) Since December 2019, departments may signpost other single-carriageway roads under their control as 90 km/h, but only after an accident study has been performed by the department's road safety commission.[2]
Urban authorities, after consultation, may also increase speed limits on certain urban roads from 50 to 70 km/h, in cases where local or pedestrian access to the road is limited and suitably protected. The Code de la route also explicitly sets the 70 km/h speed limit for Paris' Boulevard Périphérique under this regulation.
When raining, the default speed limit on dual carriageway roads is reduced to 100 km/h, and on motorways 110 km/h (or 100 km/h if signposted for a lower dry-weather speed than the 130 km/h default). Single carriageway roads are reduced to 80 km/h — in practice, this now only applies for such roads that have since returned to 90 km/h. Urban speed limits are unaffected by weather. The general speed limit is lowered to 50 km/h on all roads in the fog or other low-visibility conditions if visibility is under 50 metres.
Those limits are not systematically signaled as they are the default limit. For instance the name of a town or village at its entry is an implicit limitation to 50 km/h; the crossed name at the exit is the corresponding end of limit. This matches the way 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic defined a built-up area (in English, or agglomération in French). However, additional 50 km/h speed limit signs, or other speed limit sign, might be added to make it more explicit.
Vehicles over 3.5 metric tons of maximum total weight have lower speed limits. Lorries of more than 12 metric tons (except dangerous goods and trailers that may have lower limits) may not exceed 50 km/h in urban areas (even if the speed limit was raised to 70 km/h), 90 km/h on highways, and 80 km/h elsewhere. Lorries under 12 metric tons but over 3.5 have the same limits except 90 km/h on 4-lane expressways. Buses may not exceed 100 km/h on highways and 4-lane expressways.
Minimum or recommended speeds are very rarely marked in France, though vehicles incapable of sustaining 60 km/h are not allowed on highways/motorways and you must be driving at 80 km/h or higher to use the left-most lane of a highway/motorway.
From 1 July 2018, 80 km/h has become the default maximum speed limit on a network of around 400,000 kilometers of road. Protests against the lowering of the speed limit on rural roads to 80 km/h were held due to the unpopularity of the decision, on the assumption that an 80 km/h speed is too slow and that there has been insufficient assessment done. This contributed in French rural areas to the beginning of the "Gilets Jaunes" (Yellow vests movement).
Article R413-17 of the Code de la route confirms that speed limits are designed for optimal traffic conditions, clear weather and a vehicle in good condition. Drivers not adapting their speed to the conditions of the road and obstacles ahead (including a number of stated cases in the code) is an infringement in spite of the applicable speed limit.
Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).
- ^ République française (14 August 2020). "Code de la route - Chapitre III : Vitesse - Section 1 : Vitesses maximales autorisées (Articles R413-1 à R413-16)". Légifrance. Secrétariat général du gouvernement. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
- ^ République française (24 December 2019). "LOI n° 2019-1428 du 24 décembre 2019 d'orientation des mobilités". Légifrance. Secrétariat général du gouvernement. Authority to local government provided by article 36.