PASSING through wide fields of wheat and potatoes, route D915 links the northern French port of Dieppe with Pontoise, north-west of Paris. On a straight stretch of single-carriageway road, lined with sycamores, cars tear along above the 90kph (55mph) speed limit, dodging oncoming traffic to overtake. Periodically, as on other similar roads, vehicles collide, killing their occupants. To curb the country’s accident rate, the French government is reducing the speed limit on country roads from July 1st. In rural France, few recent policies have prompted such indignation.
Speeding is the main cause of fatal traffic accidents in France, most of which, as elsewhere, take place on single-lane roads that lack a central reservation. Cars crash either into each other, or into one of the shade-providing trees that line many country routes. It was on just such a road that Albert Camus, at the age of 46, and his publisher, Michel Gallimard, were killed when their car...Continue reading
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