Two-way interurban roads form a vast network of over 400,000 km, managed in part by the State and local authorities, mainly the Departmental Councils. This network performs multiple functions (transit and/or service) and has diverse characteristics in terms of infrastructure provision. It carries a significant proportion of traffic for a variety of reasons, with a mix of different users such as passenger vehicles, heavygoods vehicles, vulnerable road users, farm machinery, etc. In terms of accidents, this network accounts for 89% of deaths on roads outside conurbations (1,915 people killed), or 56% of all road deaths. What's more, althoughspread out along the routes, it appears that one quarter of this network accounts for two-thirds of the fatalities. Faced with this challenge, the government decided to reduce the maximum authorisedspeed (VMA) on this network to 80 km/h. More recently, after several months of application, the Departmental Councils have been given the option of raising the VMA to 90km/h locally under conditions that have yet to be defined. While, overall, the BAAC file provides some information on accident rates, there is a lack of more in-depth knowledge that would enable a diagnosis to be made that is better suited to the heterogeneity of this network. This deficit should be set against the levers that can be mobilised to improve the characteristics of the infrastructure in relation to usage (traffic and speeds). Foreword for publications translated into foreign languages The purpose of translated documents and publications is to pass on to non-French speaking readers the French know-how set out in the original publication, whether this concerns knowledge, methodologies, tools or best pratices. Original publications in French are subject to a checking process, which leads to a Cerema commitment regarding their content. English versions do not undergo the same process, and consequently carry no Cerema commitment. In the event of differences between the English and the original French text, the French text serves at the reference.
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