80 km/h, 90, back to 80: the dance of speed limits in Calvados

After reintroducing a portion of its departmental roads to 90 km/h, Calvados is forced to turn back.

90 km/h speed limit on departmental roads in Calvados is now over. The speed limit has been restored to 80 km/h across the entire secondary network as of February 1st. This change follows a decision by the administrative court, which canceled the increase in the maximum permitted speed due to procedural issues. The judiciary took on the case following an appeal from the league against road violence.

The possibility of reverting back to 90 km/h later has not yet been decided. “Rather than appealing, the Department has chosen to give itself the necessary time to decide whether to maintain or not the 90 km/h speed limit on each of the 28 affected axes,” explains the local authority in its statement. For this purpose, a study on accident rates is underway on each section, which will help determine, beyond the geometric characteristics of the roads involved, whether increasing the limit to 90 km/h is feasible because it is reasonable in light of the evolving average accident ratios on these sections.”

A Different Outcome in Orne Department

According to the National Drivers League, the 90 km/h limit has been reestablished over 53,000 km of departmental roads in France. The last report, dated January 23rd, indicates that Calvados sections (435 km) should now be excluded from that total. Some departments have eliminated the 80 km/h limit across all roads under their jurisdiction. This is the case for Puy-de-Dôme, Aveyron, Allier, Corrèze, Creuse, Cantal, and Ardèche.

In Orne, the question of returning to 80 km/h also arose, once again after the league against road violence took the matter to the administrative court. Wanting to keep the 90 km/h limit, the department provided the necessary justifications and succeeded in its defense.

Read also: Road safety report: cyclist and scooter mortality soars in 2022