The Deadliest Roads In Europe

• Share

The two-lane road linking the southern French village of Ramatuelle to the sparkling Mediterranean waters off Saint-Tropez snakes down through an idyllic jumble of twisted holm oak trees, jagged white rock, sunbaked farmhouses and acres of lush green vineyards. But this scenic stretch of Route Départementale 61 could also be lined with grave markers and memorials to drivers like Francis Manzoni. One February afternoon, a local youth who'd been drinking attempted to pass another car on a curve, lost control and hit Manzoni's auto head on — killing him instantly. The accident was iconic of a plague tormenting the entire nation.

"It's the kind of accident that happens every day when people drink, drive too fast or both," says Patrice Manzoni, who notes that the man who killed his uncle had a history of drunk driving. "All the guy got was a suspended jail sentence and license rescinded for three years. What do you think he learned from that?"

It's a question millions of motorists from across Europe should ponder as they continue the August convergence on French vacation destinations like Ramatuelle — and navigate the deadliest roads in the European Union to get there. In 2000, France's 8,079 road fatalities topped the E.U. rankings — well ahead of the 7,503 in Germany, which has 33% more cars and 36% less road space. France has held the dubious crown since 1998 and doesn't appear ready to relinquish it anytime soon. Last year road deaths climbed to 8,160, and for the first five months of 2002 deaths were up 2.5% over the previous year. Car accidents have become the leading cause of mortality among people aged 15-24. Some fear that France's younger generations may prove even more reckless than their elders. "French drivers suffer from a veritable culture of irresponsibility and egotism that causes thousands of needless deaths and injuries each year," laments Jacques Robin, vice president of the League Against Road Violence. "It takes political courage and will to police and punish dangerous driving. It happens elsewhere, yet no French government has risked angering drivers by making enforcement of laws on roads and in courts a priority."

But such aversion may no longer be possible before France's relentless carnage. In his Bastille Day address on July 14, President Jacques Chirac described himself as "absolutely horrified that France's roads are the most dangerous in Europe" and cited improving safety among his top priorities. Transportation Minister Gilles de Robien has been even more assertive. After warning that "sanctions provided by law shouldn't be limited to threats but must be systematically applied," late last month De Robien and Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy deployed nearly 5,000 extra police officers to vacationer-packed freeways and roads and promised 1,200 new full-time patrols over the next five years. De Robien is also considering testing such innovative measures as putting "black boxes" in cars to record speed and maneuvering, and lowering legal blood-alcohol limits from .5 grams per liter to zero. After a September summit between government officials, automotive organizations and safety advocates, De Robien is expected to introduce new legislation by year's end.

But even if new laws can force the French to abandon flip attitudes toward drinking and driving — solely responsible for 25% of France's road deaths last year — it will take longer to alter the macho attitude associating speed with virility. Such changes in culture and mindset, some experts say, will come only with imposed discipline over the long run. "Apart from a total alcohol ban, France doesn't need new laws, regulations or devices — rather, better enforcement of existing laws," says Wolfgang Hubner, director of the o.e.c.d.'s transport division in Paris. "The U.K., with roughly the same population as France, has decreased fatalities through tighter enforcement — which over time also produced a more generalized respect of road laws." Auto deaths per million last year were 57.6 in Britain, 84.9 in Germany and 137.7 in France.

Improvements in infrastructure and automobile technology have helped diminish accident fatalities by nearly half since the 1970s in most E.U. countries (the exceptions being Spain, Greece and Portugal, where the number of cars and drivers significantly increased between 1985 and '95). But social attitudes, driver education and diligent enforcement are key to preventing deaths. After German reunification in 1990, for example, accident mortality exploded in eastern Germany from 1,626 in 1989 to 3,248 in 1991, as drivers on lower-policed roads got access to faster cars from the West. Better safety education, roadway improvement and tougher enforcement helped reduce deaths in eastern states to 1,697 in 2001.

French drivers must also learn to value collective safety over individual bravado and flair, but teaching them a healthy fear of the law will come first. That's where judges have to improve. Though 50% of French road deaths are attributed to speeding and 31% involve alcohol, the nation's judges are curiously indulgent to offenders. While punishment for most speeding violations is limited to fines, nearly 90% of all drunk drivers avoid prison through suspended sentences — and 40% of those convicted in fatal accidents never do time.

"The judge was more inclined to put himself into the driver's shoes than mine, even though I'm the one who's handicapped for life," says Marcelle Berthoud, 61, who has spent three years in hospitals and rehab centers since a drunk driver hit her car head on. The driver — who failed to appear at his trial — saw his initial six-month suspended jail sentence lowered to three on appeal, and the 15-month driving prohibition lifted completely. "Judges figure the driver's guilty conscience is punishment enough, and that the damage to victims is already done," says Berthoud. "Just who is the law protecting?"

The answer to that question, like Patrice Manzoni's, is outrageously evident to victims of road violence — and is even dawning on leaders like Chirac and De Robien. But the behavior modification involved in changing French habits of drinking and driving and a national addiction to speed requires time. And time in this case means more Manzonis, more Berthouds and more invisible tombstones on Route Départementale 61.