French will be introducing on two-lane highways a new speed limit of just 80km/h. This is said it will save 330 to 400 lives a year.
This explains it in English but being a UK website refers to the UK's A and B classification roads.
The French have rightly pointed the errors on this law.

80km/h (or slower) is normal in the Netherlands. You get to your destination a couple of minutes later. So what?

Of course unless it is rigorously enforced in France it will have little affect, especially on the lunatic fringe of motorcylists.

Netherlands? I was advising members about the new speed limits in France.

Our car rental in France would alert us to the speed limit. It was very helpful on those two-lane roads where the speed would go up and down. I am sure not all cars do this but sure was helpful. Two lane roads are very dangerous so bravo.

Thanks for the update

Not all of the GPS devices will be updated for the new speed limit exactly on July 1st, so pay attention to the signs at all times.

Four lane divided highways will continue to have a speed limit of 110 and a lot of the national highways have stretches that switch back and forth between two lanes and four lanes at various times.

I didn't see anything about "the error in the law" in that article. It just said many people were unhappy about it.

The default limit on such roads in Italy is 70 km/h, 50 in built-up zones. It's very difficult to enforce, because the courts have ruled hidden speed monitors illegal.

And that is not at all the case in France. While the stationary cameras almost always have signs to warn you ahead of time, there are also hidden and mobile cameras, and the police are ruthless. This year, the government even outsourced certain speed controls to private companies driving cars with mobile radar. The automobile associations were outraged because apparently their members are unable to respect the speed limit, no matter what it is. Too bad.

People in rental cars should be aware that on top of the fine that you will receive, most rental companies will apply an automatic additional charge of 25 or 30 euros for the privilege of having given your name and address to the authorities. I confess that I tend to get a speeding fine about every 18 months or so, only in rental vehicles since I have never owned au automobile in my life -- last time I was "almost" pleased because Europcar forgot (?) to charge me their denunciation fee.

While we are on the subject of driving in France, I take the flourescent jackets for two people in the car (do I need four if four in the car?) and the lightbulbs/fuses/triangle, but has any conclusion been reached about the breathalyser units? Are they mandatory now?

Only the driver needs a fluorescent vest, as well as a warning triangle. All rental cars contain these. The breathalysers have been forgotten by all.

But not all drivers use rental cars
Thanks kerouac you've put my mind at rest

kerouac Thank you for your helpful clarification.
One question which I hope you can answer. The speed limit for those roads where there are three lanes. Do they automatically lower to 80KPH?
Yes I will be more observant over the speed limits.

The vest and the triangle are supposed to be within reach of the driver at all times. This means that you are not allowed to keep them in the boot. I can't imagine that this would be enforced in most cases. One might imagine odd scenarios where the driver exits the broken down car to get the vest and triangle out of the boot, is unfortunately killed by a passing car in the process, and the insurance company refuses to pay anything due to this technicality.

Very inconvenient for us.

Sorry hets but it will not add a few minutes into our journey which is Calais to Bordeaux on mainly 2 lane roads. Last July we did that journey and probably came across five cars in 400 miles (OK I exaggerate) but compared to the UK it was breeze. I could have driven at 200kmh and been no danger.

I’m really surprised that the accident rate in France is so high. I have a lot of experience of driving in Spain and Italy, some of it is insane. Sicily particularly.

I have had limited experience in France (3000km) and probably found it the most raiding driving in the world.

Well I suppose with accident and death rates plummeting insurance rates will do likewise?

When accidents go down, rates always go down.

And it seems a lot of fuel will be conserved as well - benfitting pocketbook and envirnoment as that is I understand about the optimal speed for fuel consumption. Win - win and will be enforced it seems.

I rented a hybrid car in Mulhouse once with a return to Paris and I was absolutely ASTOUNDED by the low fuel consumption.

Hint: if you rent a car in a small city with a return to one of the big cities, you have a very good chance of getting an upgraded vehicle that you never imagined possible. That's because the little agencies are independent and they are obliged to send the chain-owned cars back to a chain-owned station within two weeks. So they will upgrade you to whatever they need to get rid of. (Many many years ago I worked for Avis in Paris and had to do the same thing on a different level -- sending the Spanish cars back in the direction of Spain, the Dutch cars in the direction of the Netherlands, Italian cars back to Italy, etc. You don't actually have to rent them all the way but at least in the correct direction.)

We're talking about 2 lane roads, right, one lane each way? And the maximum speed goes from 90 to 80 km/hour.
That sounds reasonable. These are roads with level crossings. Driving 200 km/hour on these roads would be insane, Britishcaicos.

Here in Belgium it's 70/hour on those kind of roads.