Radars – What conclusions can be drawn from the drop to 70 km-h on the Paris ring road? –

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What conclusions can we draw from the drop to 70 km / h on the Paris ring road? ?

Radars - What conclusions can be drawn from the drop to 70 km-h on the Paris ring road? -

After one year of limitation to 70 km / h on the Paris ring road (instead of 80 km / h before January 10, 2014), the Paris town hall naturally draws an extremely positive assessment of this measure: "fewer accidents, less noise, less pollution ", rejoices Anne Hidalgo’s team. 

After one year of limitation (instead of 80 km / h before January 10, 2014), the Paris city hall naturally draws an extremely positive assessment of this measure: "less accidents, less noise, less pollution", rejoices Anne Hidalgo’s team. 

Mechanically, the amount of PV for "speeding" (not to be confused with "excessive speed" …) on the contrary soared: "the number of speed violations recorded by fixed speed radars on the boulevard peripheral has increased sharply since the reduction in speed to 70 km / hour ", notes the town hall of Paris, calculating that" 461,596 infringement messages were recorded on the peripheral for the whole of 2014, against 138 138 in 2013 ", i.e. a multiplication by 3.3 !

Fewer injuries … but more deaths

The town hall affirms that the number of accidents has "decreased by 15.5% compared to 2013, thus settling at its lowest level for 10 years", which translates into "a decrease in the number of injured (776 in 2014 against 908 in 2013) ", estimates Christophe Nadjovski (EELV), deputy in charge of transport.

Pollution linked to road traffic

In one, Airparif notes that "the emissions of nitrogen oxides and particles are significant at very low speed or at high speed", while "the benzene emissions are maximum at low speed".

The body responsible for measuring air quality in Paris estimates that road traffic in Ile-de-France is responsible for 50% of nitrogen dioxide pollution (NO2, an irritant gas for the bronchi), 25% of direct releases for PM10 and PM2.5 particles (less than 10 and 2.5 micrometers, respectively, which enter the respiratory system and are classified as carcinogenic by the World Health Organization) and the quasi- all emissions of benzene, a volatile organic compound emitted by unburned hydrocarbons in the exhaust and by evaporation phenomena (tank, carburetor, etc.), which causes respiratory irritation and has carcinogenic effects.

But according to 40 million motorists, fiercely opposed to this drop in speed on the periphery, this report actually hides an increase in the number of deaths on this boulevard which surrounds Paris: "in 2014, 7 people were killed in a road accident on the Paris ring road, against "only" 4 in 2013 and even less in previous years ", estimates the association which denounces a" lie by omission "in the communication of the town hall.

In short: there would have been fewer accidents on the ring road since the drop to 70 km / h, but they were more serious…

And the garbage trucks then ?

"Contrary to what the public authorities want us to believe and while the elected representative in charge of transport is now considering reducing the speed to 50 km / h on the boulevard, the mayor of Paris has just proved that a lowering of the speed does not automatically reduce road fatalities ", recalls 40 million motorists.

Noise pollution: can do (much) better !

The readers of MNC – who, as everyone knows, were little more fortunate than the others – remember that, to better swallow the 70 km / h on the periphery, the Paris town hall estimated that the decrease in noise pollution would be "-1.7 dBA for light vehicles and -1.2 dBA for heavy vehicles". Or an average of -1.45 dBA…

Today it announces a drop of "-1.2 dBA at night and -0.5 dBA during the day", which according to our learned calculations represents an average of -0.85 dBA … instead of -1, 45 announced !

Regarding the reduction in noise pollution put forward by the Paris city hall (see opposite), the association considers that they are "imperceptible to the human ear according to ENT specialists".

Not to mention that if Anne Hidalgo’s goal is really to improve the sound environment of her constituents, the MNC editorial staff advises her two additional avenues: on the one hand, controlling the fleet of garbage trucks, including the volume sound is reminiscent of that of MotoGP paddocks – less glamorous – and on the other hand a stricter control of the use of sirens on official vehicles, whose movements do not all seem to present a degree of urgency justifying to get stuck in an inextricable traffic jam all screaming sirens !

Finally, about the drop in pollution, 40 million motorists rely on engineers from Airparif (the body responsible for measuring air quality in Paris) who only expect " limited impact [of the 10 km / h speed reduction] to a few percent on nitrogen dioxide and particulates ".

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