France speed limits. 80 or 90.

[Casper46]

As we were leaving France at the beginning of March I read that the 80kms limit was to be dropped and 90kms reinstated. The article also said that departments were going to be able to decide for themselves if they wanted to keep the 80kms.
If that’s correct then how do we know what the limit is. Signs don’t help much as some departments didn’t bother to change them in the first place.
Can anyone already there enlighten us, pleased

 

[2x2camper]

As we were leaving France at the beginning of March I read that the 80kms limit was to be dropped and 90kms reinstated. The article also said that departments were going to be able to decide for themselves if they wanted to keep the 80kms.
If that’s correct then how do we know what the limit is. Signs don’t help much as some departments didn’t bother to change them in the first place.
Can anyone already there enlighten us, pleased

Surely if you are unsure you would keep to the lower limit

 

[Pete5996]

Assume it's 80kph unless otherwise signed. All the roads I've driven on in France in the past couple of years have been correctly signed

 

[TinaLes]

Waste of time & money, Its only 5MPH between the two, another one of Macrons ideas that for the best part has failed.
Now if it was 10MPH that would IMHO of made a more substantial difference in achieving their safety targets, like we do here in the UK.
30MPH reduced to 20MPH outside schools and in heavily pedestrianised areas in towns.
After all we gotta allow for those numpties not thinking, and stepping off the pavement, with their mobile phones glued to their ears eh?
LES

 

[Lenny HB]

Being over 3500kg it's always been 80 so makes life easy for us.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Casper46]

It’s not a matter of a few miles an hour. If I have the legal right to do 90 Kms then I don’t particularly want to make everyone else following do 80 kms. What I was asking is if anyone in France has any idea about how they are “advertising” it.

 

[maison]

Perhaps more worrying is the suggestion that Autoroute speed limits may be reduced from 130kph to 110kph to reduce pollution.

Autoroutes are usually quiet, so not a massive source of pollution. If the speed is reduced to 110kph it seems likely that they will become quieter still, forcing vehicles onto the “ordinary” roads and causing congestion and even more pollution.

 

[TinaLes]

Oh! sorry Casper, but no need to ask anyone in France, or on here for that matter.
Is this link any good? Its where I would have looked if in doubt, rather than just take differing opinions maybe.

Driving rules in France

Driving rules in France - rules of the road

about-france.com

LES

 

[Allanm]

They will change the signs but if you aren’t sure, keep to 80.
Some people will say that limits are changed without changing signs, but after travelling extensively throughout France, I haven’t seen any evidence of this.
Dropping the speed limit from 90 to 80 has, according to government figures, lowered the amount of deaths and serious injuries on roads as well as saved fuel and virtually all schools and many villages have a 30km ( 20mph) limit in place too

 

[nicholsong]

They will change the signs but if you aren’t sure, keep to 80.
Some people will say that limits are changed without changing signs, but after travelling extensively throughout France, I haven’t seen any evidence of this.
Dropping the speed limit from 90 to 80 has, according to government figures, lowered the amount of deaths and serious injuries on roads as well as saved fuel and virtually all schools and many villages have a 30km ( 20mph) limit in place too

So why has the Government permitted Departments to raise the limits back to 90kph?

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Allanm]

So why has the Government permitted Departments to raise the limits back to 90kph?

I’m not defending it either way. Perhaps the fact that many people ignored it, speed cameras were vandalised and 8 out of 10 French motorists weren’t happy about the change ( and the yellow vest protestors ) resulted in the government changing its mind.
Just as a matter of interest, it was Edouard Philippe, the prime minister who brought about the lowering of the limits. Macron, the French president, suggested the limits should be reinstated and that “something better accepted and more intelligent” should be found

 

[maison]

According to our local newspaper, le Journal, Saône et Loire edition, the number of accidents in our region went up and fatalities almost doubled during the time of the reduced speed limits.

 

[suavecarve]

We have only travelled locally around moulins and down from calais.
We have seen a couple of 90 signs one of which was on a dual carriageway without a solid barrier and it had speed camera warning with 90 sign next to it.
We werent flashed at 79 !

 

[dunnah01]

We've done about 1.5k miles around west, south, east and central France in the past 2-3 weeks and never once seen anything suggesting 80kph has been raised to 90kph. We're over 3500kg so different speeds apply anyway

 

[klaatu]

We’ve crossed quite a few departments in the last three weeks, and a couple of times when entering a department we have seen 90 signs, and then 80 signs when leaving. Don’t ask me which departments!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[TerryL]

Don't get confused by the practice of the speed limit being 80kph in one direction and 90kph in the other - it's all to do with the carriageway setup.

My TomTom almost never got it right!

 

[63720]

IIRC on a 3 lane road it was 80 on the single lane and 90 the opposite direction.

 

[Casper46]

IIRC on a 3 lane road it was 80 on the single lane and 90 the opposite direction.

That was the way they set it up when the speed restrictions started. Maybe COVID-19 has delayed the implementation of the relaxation of the 80kms limit.

 

[jongood]

They will change the signs but if you aren’t sure, keep to 80.
Some people will say that limits are changed without changing signs, but after travelling extensively throughout France, I haven’t seen any evidence of this.
Dropping the speed limit from 90 to 80 has, according to government figures, lowered the amount of deaths and serious injuries on roads as well as saved fuel and virtually all schools and many villages have a 30km ( 20mph) limit in place too

Wouldnt we all love to be able to examine the research that supports statements like these? whatever country it is.

 

[Petrol_headz]

We took a dive out last weekend to have a peek at a few Aires for a idea what they were like for possible use in the near future that were in our local area. We didnt see any 90 signs. So we wernt sure so stuck to 80 just in case.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Pete5996]

As I understand it, only a very few départements actually reverted to the 90kph limit. I believe the Herault and Aveyron may have done so. Of the remainder, there's about a 50/50 split between the départements who said they were considering reverting and those who said they would not be reverting. Doesn't seem to have been much progress since....

 

[Allanm]

Wouldnt we all love to be able to examine the research that supports statements like these? whatever country it is.

I doubt that would ever be clear. Some groups say the death and injury toll was dropping anyway before the speed limits were reduced so if this were the case, then any figures obtained would not truly reflect the reasons for it.

 

[dunnah01]

We've done about 1.5k miles around west, south, east and central France in the past 2-3 weeks and never once seen anything suggesting 80kph has been raised to 90kph. We're over 3500kg so different speeds apply anyway

Travelled down the Loire valley from Bourges to Saumur yesterday and all the 80kph signs had been replaced by shiny new 90kph signs on the main route. So it looks like some departments are changing and others aren't. I stuck to 80kph max anyway as no longer sure what speed I'm allowed to do and the sat nav was telling me off every mile I tried out over 80kph

 

[Treack]

Been driving in Normandy and Brittany for six months of each year for the last few years. Very few 90kph signs have been exchanged for 80kph in my experience. I know three people who have been caught out by this and been fined, two of them for the first time ever anywhere ie. they are not habitual speeders. One went to the local gendarmerie for clarification on the limit on the particular road he was ticketed on and they didn't know. So you might find yourself fined for doing 90kph on a 90kph road because the gendarme is as confused as everyone else. As has been advised stick to 80kph until they sort it out, if they ever do.

 

[Richard n Ann]

Been driving in Normandy and Brittany for six months of each year for the last few years. Very few 90kph signs have been exchanged for 80kph in my experience. I know three people who have been caught out by this and been fined, two of them for the first time ever anywhere ie. they are not habitual speeders. One went to the local gendarmerie for clarification on the limit on the particular road he was ticketed on and they didn't know. So you might find yourself fined for doing 90kph on a 90kph road because the gendarme is as confused as everyone else. As has been advised stick to 80kph until they sort it out, if they ever do.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[bobandjanie]

We noticed they were changing the signs back to 90 in places, and that's what we take notice of, sat nav is wrong on many occasions. Bob

 

[Lucky]

I live in France for six months of the year and my Department (Correze) has reverted to the 90 kph limit and replaced 80 kph signs with new 90 kph signs.

My problem is I'm unclear what neighbouring Departments have done (stuck at 80 or reverted to 90) and, even if I was aware of their policy, I wouldn't know when I was crossing boundaries from one to another. You don't see 'Welcome to xxxx' signs very often in France.

Satnav doesn't help because many of the new 90 limits aren't in its database, and I conclude it's unreliable everywhere.

Bottom line is I consider the limit to be 80 kph everywhere unless signed otherwise.

 

[Fragle]

I agree with the Casper46. its not about just do 80 when you can legally do 90. You personally might have all the time in the world. Other people you hold up may have deadlines to keep. Most-all books are out of date and a waste of time reference speeds. Real time answers are on here. Thats all the O P asked. Otherwise why have a forum and ask anything.