Road safety - France has shown the way forward

THE French have cut road deaths by more than a third in just four years. The drop is proportionately the greatest in the European Union.

The credit for the improvement is being attributed largely to the leadership of politicians who determined to make road safety a priority by enforcing a new driving culture.

They sought to bring about changes in a range of areas — slower driving speeds, higher levels of seat belt use, and a stricter enforcement of the law by traffic police.