With the seasonal surge in tourism approaching, a consortium of European touring clubs and safety charities has published a report on the safety of France’s roads.

As British schools break up for half term this week people across the UK will be heading across the channel to take a French holiday. Many more family holiday makers will be packing their cars or their caravans in preparation for the long summer holiday.

The report looked at the safety record of many of the roads commonly used by British tourists on a French holiday, using the safety rating system pioneered by the European Road Assessment Programme. This star rating system assesses the risk of the most common hazards on the road, with one star indicating a safe road and four stars indicating

France is the biggest holiday destination for British tourists who plan on travelling via car. Nearly 20 million people from across Northern Europe take a motoring holiday in France, making its major roads one of the busiest motorway systems in the continent.

97% of the roads most commonly used by British tourists scored 4 or more stars for safety compared with just 50% of the motorway network in the UK. The autoroutes – the French motorway system – carry nearly a quarter of all of the traffic in France but only 6% of all road fatalities have occurred there.

“The results are the most consistently good we have yet seen for motorways anywhere in Europe,” said Dr Joanne Hill of the Road Safety Foundation in an accompanying statement. “French autoroutes do not have some of the ingrained flaws in standards of run-off protection that we see in Britain.”

“British drivers can revel in safer roads, lighter traffic and fewer junctions.”

Related posts:

1. Driving in France isn’t as risky as the headlines suggest
2. 2010 to bring new roads to the Dordogne
3. Brits say a French holiday is happiest short haul break
4. Brits say a French holiday is happiest short haul break
5. Go small for a happier holiday

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