More than two dozen departmental roads in the Calvados department will not see their speed limit reduced from 90km/h to 80km/h, despite an earlier ruling from the local administrative court.
Earlier in the year, the Caen administrative court ruled that the 27 departmental roads on Calvados with a 90km/h limit – some 8% of such roads in the department – would need to reduce their speed limit back to 80km/h.
This was requested following a legal complaint from a driving group, which claimed the authorities in Calvados did not sufficiently analyse accident data when first increasing the limits from 80km/h to 90km/h.
However, the change was put back to January 15, 2027 after the Calvados council executed a temporary provisional order to keep the current limits in place, going directly against the administrative court’s request.
“We wanted continuity in the measure,” said vice-president of the Calvados department Xavier Charles, quoted in Le Parisien.
“New provisional orders have been drafted… to allow time for a fresh study on accident data.”
The map below shows the roads where the 90km/h limit will remain in place.
Département du Calvados : BD Topo IGN / SIR / MPT / DDPT / DGAAE
A similar demand in Orne saw 90km/h limits reduced in the department to 80km/h on June 15.
It is the latest in a series of nationwide debates over speed limits on departmental roads.
Roads yo-yo between speed limits
Issues stem from a 2018 law change for departmental road speed limits, which made a blanket reduction from 90km/h down to 80km/h on all such roads in France with the aim of improving safety and lowering fatal accidents.
Local authorities and drivers complained about the changes – arguing they would have little impact and mainly hindered people in rural areas – causing the government to relent and offer compromise.
Departments were permitted to reinstate the 90km/h limit on roads providing they undertook safety and accident studies showing the return to higher limits would not increase accidents.
Currently, more than half of France’s departments have reinstated 90km/h limits on some roads, however in many departments only a fraction of applicable routes have seen higher limits reimposed.
Our article gives a map with the current speed limits across mainland French departments and tips on how to drive safely on these roads.
Infrastructure such as new road signs showing speed limits must be funded by the department.
More legal debate in Calvados?
In both Calvados and Orne the Ligue contre la violence routière group had raised a legal complaint about the 90 km/h limits.
However, Calvados’ decision to delay the change has been made to allow for further studies, said Mr Charles. The decision is expected by January 15.
The new study will pinpoint the location of accidents on the departmental road network – including the 38 deaths in 2025 on Calvados’ secondary roads – to test the impact of the speed limit as a major factor. The fatality rate is in line with the national average.
Mr Charles believes that the courts are unlikely to challenge the provisional order, as it is not an urgent matter.
For now, drivers in the department should check speed limits for all departmental roads they are travelling on to ensure they are following the correct rules.
