Safety – French Cars

Road Deaths within French Mainland Hit New Low After Reduced Speed Limits, as Commuters Curse Government

The French government has had a lot of trouble to deal with during the last year or so, and we have to say that a lot of it is their own doing.

Now, as a government tasked with overseeing the smooth flow of operations within the country, how do you handle an increasing rate of road deaths within the country? You improve road quality. Increase road rules awareness. And, increase driver awareness. However, the French government has taken the comedic decision by decreasing the speed limits across the Mainland area.

The controversial new speed limits are said to be around 80 kmph or 50 mph. This is really low for most drivers, and French cars meant for tearing past highways would now be kept under this limit.

Road Deaths

It is believed that some 3,250 people died from road accidents last year. This figure is the lowest during the last decade, and is 9 deaths less than the previous record in 2013. Government officials believe that the low number of road deaths in 2018 were a doing of this speed limit. However, residents and drivers believe that other measures need to be implemented because they cannot drive powerful French cars at speeds less than 80 kmph on the Mainland highways.

Many analysts have also mentioned that this speed limit played an important role in instigating the yellow vest protests of last year. Residents were extremely unimpressed with the way the government conducted itself in such a situation. In a recently conducted survey, more than 78 percent of all respondents opposed the speed limits placed by the government.

The government has, however, stuck with this ridiculous measure, and believes that the drop in the number of deaths is reason enough to implement the speed limits, not realizing the need for improving road safety awareness.

Things to Learn from Video of Guy Driving Car in French Airport Runway

We all know that police chases can get nasty, but things took a really wild turn when a driver, who was being chased by the police, broke through barriers to enter the runway of Lyon’s Sant-Exupery Airport. The car driver, who had broken multiple motorway rules, was being followed by police cars when he decided it was okay to run down the fences, which were guarding the airport, and take the high profile chase to the runway.

Now, the runway is a place for the planes to land and not some random foolery involving a police car chasing a psycho driver. This interception meant that the airport had to remain closed for several hours—over 80 flights were cancelled.

The video of the event has gone viral, as onlookers film the driver taking the police on a cat and mouse chase across the runway. The car, however, soon came to a stop, and the man tried to run away, expecting the same drifts and speed from his own legs. However, he was soon caught by two burly policemen, who felt accomplished at their achievement after having disrupted 80 flights in a span of several hours.

We now get to the crux of this article, where we will mention vital lessons to learn from this incident:

Never drive a car on a runway. Well, even though runways are smooth and offer better drifting and burn-out opportunities, please stay away.
No one wants to be chased by the police. But when one of these unruly, brave men do try to pursue your car, pull over and stop.
Finally, you can’t outrun a police car. So, if your car runs out of petrol during a police chase, just sit there, munch on some snacks, and let the inevitable happen. Don’t run around and make a fool out of yourself.

YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkOVWmMipbE

Is The Tesla Model S Safe For French Roads?

It goes from 0 to 60 in just 2.5 seconds.

Since it was introduced in June 2012, the Tesla Model S has become one of the company’s key offerings and the face of the electronic car industry. It became the first electric car to score first place in the monthly new car sales rankings anywhere in the world. By December 2015, the company had sold more than 100,000 units.

Not to mention that the car scored a perfect 5.0 on the American National Highway Traffic Safety Administration automobile safety rating.

However, questions were raised on the safety of the vehicle during the company’s latest attempt to bring the success of their vehicle to France. The company was busy promoting its Model S and Model X in Biarritz, France in its ‘Electric Road Trip’ tour where an unusual event occurred.

As some passengers and a Tesla employee were on a test drive in the Model S 90D, they heard a loud sound and the vehicle indicated a problem with the charging. Soon after they exited the vehicle, it burst into flames.

The story received widespread attention in the media and caused Tesla’s stocks to drop several points.

Although the cause of the fire is still unknown, this is by no means the first fire incident involving a Tesla Model S. In view of the numerous reported cases of a Tesla Model S catching fire, it’s a wonder how the vehicle gained such a perfect score in the safety ratings in the first place.