“it’s anti-ecological and demagogic”, denounces an association

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Since its creation in 2020, the Brionne (Eure) Eco-mobilités association has been able to carve out a place for itself in the local landscape. Fervent supporters of public transportits managers have become regular interlocutors of elected officials.

“Increase greenhouse gas emissions”

President Xavier Braud reminds in each of his speeches how the use of trains can contribute to reducing polluting emissions, a large part of which is generated by road transport. Any measure favorable to the use of the car seems to him to go in the opposite direction of history, at the time of climate change.

We should therefore not be surprised by the virulent tone used in the press release signed by the Brionne Eco-mobilités office in reaction to the announcement on October 30, 2024 of the return to 90 km/h on all departmental roads. in 2026. A decision criticized in the first place ecologically.

“Moving from 80 to 90 km/h is first of all giving a signal in favor of additional competitive advantage for the road to the detriment of public transport and the train, estimates the association. Increasing speed on the roads also increases greenhouse gas emissions, since these and fuel consumption increase with speed. »

“Simplistic reasoning”

According to the president of the Department of Eure, Alexandre Rassaërtthe move to 80 km/h, implemented by former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, would have “hit hard working France, particularly in rural areas”. “As if many Eurois going to work on foot, by bike or by train were not working, what contempt! », retorts Brionne Eco-mobilités, seeing it as a demagogic attitude.

Losing 30 seconds on a 30 km journey, is that what hits workers hard? We expected a little more seriousness from the president of the Department.

Another argument put forward by Alexandre Rassaërt: lowering the maximum authorized speed would not have made it possible to reduce the number of deaths on the roads. “By relying on a few scattered data carefully isolated from any context, it holds simplistic and incoherent reasoning : mortality has worsened in recent years, reducing speed is ineffective, we must therefore increase speed. It’s distressing,” says the Brionnaise association, referring to a figure from the National Interministerial Road Safety Observatory according to which road fatalities have increased by 13% in the departments which have returned to 90 km/h.

It is not the lowering of the speed limit that explains the bad figures, but the non-compliance with the maximum authorized speed.

Solemn appeal

The president of the Department of Eure assumes “a political choice”. Brionne Eco-mobilités considers this step backwards as “obscurantist” and launches a solemn appeal to the elected officials of the territory sensitive to ecology, the promotion of public transport and the defense of road safety.

“They must position themselves against this project,” says the association which hopes to convince the PCF (Communist Party) mayor of Brionne, Valéry Beuriotthe RN deputy (National Rally) Katiana Levavasseur and the departmental councilor of the canton of Brionne, Myriam Duteilmember of Modem (Democratic Movement).

A vote in February 2025

Eure will become the 53rd department to opt for the restoration of 90 km/h. A plenary session will have to ratify this decision in February 2025. Then 420 compulsory studies accident rates will be launched in the spring on the sections concerned, before the advisory opinion of the Departmental Road Safety Commission in the fall of 2025.

“We cannot imagine that the departmental council would knowingly vote on a measure whose effects we know: the increase in road deaths,” concludes Brionne Eco-mobilités.

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