Theautoroute (French:[otoʁut]ⓘ,highway ormotorway) system inFrance consists largely oftoll roads (76% of the total). It is a network of 11,882 km (7,383 mi) of motorways as of 2014. On road signs, autoroute destinations are shown in blue, while destinations reached through a combination of autoroutes are shown with an added autoroute logo. Toll autoroutes are signalled with the wordpéage (toll or toll plaza).
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Source: Observatoire national interministériel de la sécurité routière.[1]
Network length (Privately managed & national statistics)
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Unlike other motorway systems, there is no systematic numbering system, but there is a clustering of Autoroute numbers based on region.
A1, A3, A4, A5, A6, A10, A13, A14, A15, A16 radiate clockwise from Paris, with A2, A11, and A12 branching from A1, A10, and A13, respectively. A7 begins in Lyon, where A6 ends. A8 and A9 begin from the A7.
The 20s are found in northern France. The 30s are found in eastern France. The 40s are found near the Alps. The 50s are in the southeast, near the French Riviera. The 60s are found in southern France. The 70s are found in the center of the country. The 80s are found in western France.
A11 is namedL'Oceane because it leads to the Atlantic Ocean (Nantes).
A13 is named theautoroute de Normandie as it traverses the regionNormandy.
A16 is namedL'Européenne (the European) because it connects Paris with several European destinations such as theBelgium–France border, as well asCalais, which is connected with England.
A20 is namedL'occitane as it leads to the regionOccitanie in south-west France.
A21 is named therocade minière (mining road) because it crosses theNord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin, the largest mining stub in France.
A26 is named theautoroute des Anglais (motorway of the English) as it connectsCalais, the main point of arrival for cars and lorries from the UK, before continuing toTroyes, and through theChampagne region, whose wines are loved by the British. In addition, it passes near the sites of the most famous battles fought by theBritish Army inWorld War I, such asArras,Cambrai, and theSomme and not far fromYpres andMons in Belgium. It also passes sites of earlier UK interest such asCrecy andThe Field of the Cloth of Gold.
A35 is calledl'Alsacienne orautoroute des Cigognes (Storks' motorways) as it passes only through the historical region ofAlsace, for whomstorks are a cultural symbol.
A36 is calledla Comtoise after the old regionFranche Comté.
A40 is named theautoroute blanche (white motorway) as it connects the French winter resort towns and the Alps.
The status of motorways in France has been the subject of debate through years, from their construction until recently. Originally, the autoroutes were built by private companies mandated by the French government and followed strict construction rules as described below. They are operated and maintained by mixed companies held in part by private interests and in part by the state. Those companies hold concessions, which means that autoroutes belong to the French state and their administration to semi-private companies.Vinci controls around 4,380 km (2,720 mi) of motorway. The different companies are as follows:
ALIS (SEM, SAPN 8%,Bouygues 20.2%,Ixis 26%, DTP Terrassement 13.44%), operating the A28 Rouen-Alençon 125 km,Alis, official site
Only in theBrittany region do most of the autoroutes belong to the government. They are operated by the regional council and are free from tolls.
Privately managed
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France has the followingspeed limits for limited access roads classified as motorways:
Under normal conditions - 130 km/h (80 mph)
In rain or wet road conditions - 110 km/h (70 mph)
In heavy fog or snowy/icy conditions - 50 km/h (30 mph)
Limited access roads classified as express roads have lower speed limit (90 or 110 km/h, 55 or 70 mph).
In normal conditions, there is a minimum speed of 80 km/h (50 mph) in the leftmost lane. There is no minimum speed on the others lanes, however the speed must be adapted to the conditions and not constitute a hazard by being too slow.
Dynamic information panel used on the French Autoroute.
Theautoroutes are designed to increase driversafety and allow for higher speed limits (130 km/h or 80 mph) than on regular roads (80 km/h or 50 mph) without increasing the risk of accidents.
The safety features include:
one way driving: the lanes driving in the opposite direction are separated by at least a crash barrier designed to resist the oblique impact of a car at up to 180 km/h (110 mph); there are no intersecting roads but overpasses and underpasses;
wider carriageways, with at least 2 (often 3) lanes driving in the same direction, with a larger turning radius -some recently built autoroutes have one-lane-only sections; for privately operated motorways, in 2017, the proportion is 6800 km (74%) in 2x2 lanes, 2252 km (25%) in 2x3 lanes, 84 km (1%) in 2x4 lanes.[2] Each lane is 3.5m wide.[5]
long entrance and exit ramps or slip roads to get in or out of theautoroute without disturbing the traffic;
anemergency lane, where it is forbidden to drive (except for emergency services), to park (except in case of emergency) and to walk;[6] Since 2000, new emergency lanes on newly built motorways should be 2.5m wide (or 3m if there are more than 2000 trucks a day). According to the 2000 standard, the emergency lane must be included in a 10m wide (8.5m for sections limited to 110 km/h) security zone without obstacles (in case the security zone includes an upwards slope, it is limited to the line where the slope reaches a height of 3m).[5]
presence of emergency call boxes every 2 km (1.2 mi) on each side, that allow tocall for help with the possibility to locate the call; some call boxes have flashing light that warn when there is a problem ahead;
Sign indicating a picnic place in anaire de repos.
rest areas (aire de repos, i.e. car park with public toilets) every 10 km (6.2 mi) (4–6 minutes of driving) and service areas (aire de service with a least a gas station) every 40 km (25 mi) (20–30 minutes of driving) -on most recently builtautoroutes these distances may be longer, up to 30/60km;
regularly patrolling security services, to clear any obstacle and protect drivers in trouble (usually a breakdown or a flat tyre) with appropriate warning signs and beacons;
dynamic information panels that warn about possible difficulties ahead (e.g. accident, roadworks, traffic jam);
a radio station (107.7 MHz in FM) provides traffic information bulletins every 15 minutes (with a report in English in certain areas) and breaking news for emergencies;
on heavy traffic days (e.g. beginning and end of school holidays), specific information and recreation events may be organised in rest areas;
radars automatiques (speed cameras) are installed in many locations, and announced by a specific road sign.
Fatalities on motorways have decreased between 2002 and 2016.
Fatalities
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On French motorways, in 2016, 121 fatal accidents are direct/initial accidents representing 82% of fatal accidents, 16 (11%) fatal accidents occurs after a previous accident, and 10 (7%) fatal accidents occur after an incident.[8]
Three scenarios catch two-thirds of initial accidents:[8]
A01 simple collision of two vehicle without direction change
A06 crash on protection system such as safety traffic barrier
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Several factor of accidents are more highly probable by night in proportion to the traffic, although inattentiveness remains risky during the day.
Influence of time on the risk of accident (% of accidents divided by % of traffic)
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Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found onPhabricator and onMediaWiki.org.
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found onPhabricator and onMediaWiki.org.
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found onPhabricator and onMediaWiki.org.
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found onPhabricator and onMediaWiki.org.
Young drivers between 18 and 34 years old represent 19% of motorway drivers, but they are overrepresented in fatalmotor vehicle collisions[7]and are involved in more than half of fatal accidents.[7]
Involvement of young drivers in 2016, in fatal accidents
young drivers in dangerous manoeuvre
young drivers in inattentiveness
young drivers in excessive speeding
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Although pedestrians are forbidden on motorways in conformity with theVienna Convention, they are still sometimes killed on motorways.
In case a vehicle on a carriage cannot move, motorways safety rules remains applicable: it is forbidden for a pedestrian to travel on the motorway by article 421-2 from the "Code de la route" law.[10] For this reason, in case of accident or breakdown, it is advised to turn on hazard warning lights, wearhigh-visibility clothing, and go in a safer place such as the other side from thetraffic barrier where there is no traffic. Since 2008, it is clarified thatwarning triangles are no longer mandatory when they would endanger the driver of the disabled vehicle.[11]
Pedestrians killed in 2016
Place where pedestrians are killed
Reason for pedestrian presence
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The toll roads were granted asconcessions tomixed-economy corporations; the free roads are directly administered by the national government. Tolls are either based on a flat-rate for access to the road or on the distance driven. The latter case is the most common for long distances; users take a ticket from an automatic machine when they enter the autoroute, and pay according to the distance when exiting; toll booths accept multiple payment methods.
Sign indicating apéage.
In 2005, theVillepin government proposed a controversial plan to sell all of the state's holdings in autoroute companies to private investors. Critics contend that the price announced is well below the profit forecasts for these companies, and thus that the government sacrifices the future to solve current budgetary problems.[12]
Mode of payment
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The FM 107.7 radio coverage is available in 2017 on 8902 kilometres of the (ASFA) network.[3]This is a list of highways that are updated in 107.7 FM every 15 minutes, live 24/7 (if the highway is said alone, it means that the station covers all around it):
A 1
A 2
A 3
A 4
A 5
A 6
A 7
A 8
A 9
A 10
A 11
A 12
A 13
A 14
A 15
A 16
A 19
A 20
A 21
A 22
A 23
A 24
A 25
A 26
A 27
A 28
A 29
A 30
A 31
A 32
A 33
A 34
A 35
A 36
A 38
A 39
A 40
A 41
A 42
A 43
A 44
A 45
A 46
A 47
A 48
A 49
A 50
A 51
A 52
A 54
A 55
A 56
A 57
A 61
A 62
A 63
A 64
A 65
A 66
A 68
A 71
A 72
A 75
A 77
A 81
A 83
A 84
A 85
A 86
A 87
A 88
A 89
A 500
A 507
A 516
A 520
A 557
Media related toAutoroutes in France at Wikimedia Commons