The coronavirus has had a positive effect on the road: it has reduced road traffic and inexorably reduced the number of deaths. The 2020 results were thus historically low: 2.780 people lost their lives on the French road network, a number down sharply by 21% compared to 2019. After an exceptional 2020 report, road accidents have been on the rise since mid -March as a result of confinement.
Road mortality figures have just been revealed for the month of May 2021. According to estimates from the National Interministerial Road Safety Observatory (ONISR), 216 people lost their lives on the roads of mainland France last month. , compared to 207 in May 2020, or 9 more people killed (+4%). But compared to May 2019, “month less atypical and more conducive to comparison”, According to Road Safety, that’s 27 fewer deaths (-11%).
In the same logic, most indicators are up in May 2021 compared to May 2020, and down compared to May 2019. The number of bodily injury accidents increased by 46% compared to last year and decreased by 3% compared to 2019 (4.542 in May 2021, 3.121 in May 2020 and 4.664 in May 2019).
Concerning the injured, 5.763 people were also injured in May 2021, i.e. 55% more than in May 2020 and 2% less than in May 2019.
By category of users, the situation is different. Pedestrian mortality in May 2021 is for example at the same level as in May 2020 with 26 killed, but lower than that of May 2019 (-9 killed) while that of cyclists is higher in May 2021: 20 killed, or 5 more than in May 2020 and 14 more than in May 2019. Another different case among motorists: mortality in May 2021 is higher than in May 2020 (102 motorists were killed compared to 85 in May 2020), but lower than that of May 2019 (-31).
Mortality among motorized two-wheeler users is down compared to May 2020: 55 people died in May 2021, i.e. 15 fewer than in May 2020 and 5 more than in May 2019.
It is difficult in these conditions to draw up an objective assessment of the evolution of road accidents when the volume of traffic varies so much from one month to the next. The month of May is still affected since in 2020 travel was reduced to a minimum, while France was in the phase of deconfinement this year.
Source: ONISR
