In cities, on national roads or on motorways, the government could consider lowering speed limits further in 2025.
Speed limits for cars are a never-ending debate. There are those who would like to lower it, those who would like to increase it… Not everyone will ever agree! But lately, the trend is more towards a reduction in speed limits in France and in Europe. With a few exceptions like Italy for example, what will happen in 2025?
Several cuts in 2024
This year, several reforms lowering speed limits have been implemented in France. With the main arguments put forward, a reduction in road accidents and road deaths, but also a reduction in CO2 emissions.
The one that made the most noise was almost without a doubt the increase in the maximum speed of the Paris ring road since October 1 to 50 km/h, compared to 70 km/h previously. This decision has, in fact, sparked and still sparks a lot of debate. Objective for Paris town hall : reduce noise pollution for local residents, improve air quality and limit accidents in an area with a high traffic density. At the moment, we do not have enough hindsight to know whether or not this measure will prove effective.
A little earlier in 2024, certain motorways around large cities saw their limits reduced to 110 km/h for similar reasons. Again, the arguments for are the same. But overall, all these measures mainly lead to general dissatisfaction on the part of motorists. Above all, they believe they are losing time and productivity. Especially since these reductions in the limit are not the only “anti-car” measures put in place by the competent authorities…
Speed limit: still downward trend in 2025?
Could this restrictive trend continue in the years to come? For 2025, several avenues of reflection are being studied. One of the possibilities would be to generalize the limitation to 70 km/h on certain national and departmental roads, particularly in natural regions. Indeed, in areas of high environmental value or heavily populated, such as certain coastal portions or close to nature reserves, this reduction in speed could make it possible to better preserve local ecosystems and reduce pollution in these sensitive areas.
Speed in the city could also be even more restricted. Currently, several large French cities are experimenting with limits of 30 km/h in their city centers. This is the case in Paris, Grenoble, or even Lille for example. These experiments proved conclusive, according to those who set them up. It is therefore likely that other cities will follow this trend in 2025, with a generalization of 30 km/h zones in city centers, or even in entire cities.
In 2025, the arrival of intelligent speed limiters, already mandatory on new vehicles from July 2024, could mark a technological turning point in the regulation of speeds on the roads. These devices, capable of reading traffic signs and automatically adapting the vehicle’s speed according to the limits in force, offer a new response to combat speeding and accidents. In the long term, they will therefore spread more and more across the French vehicle fleet.
Source: www.autoplus.fr
