According to a press release from the court, the police authorities “did not make an error of appreciation” in deciding to lower the maximum speed to 30 km/h taking into account “the margin of appreciation available to these authorities and the expected benefits of this measure”, in particular on the reduction of serious and fatal accidents for pedestrians.
Associations, an inter-union of VTC (transport cars with driver) and individuals had seized the administrative court of Paris of an appeal for annulment against the decree of July 8, 2021, taken by the town hall of Paris in consultation with the prefecture from police.
The decree limited the speed of automobile traffic to 30 km/h on all the roads of the City of Paris, including the roads of the Bois de Boulogne and Vincennes, with the exception of certain axes qualified as “roads wide”.
The measure had aroused the anger of VTC unions, who had demonstrated in front of the Paris City Hall to demand the end of the speed limit at 30 km / h.
The administrative court also judges “that, contrary to what the applicants maintain, it has not been established that the reduction in the maximum traffic speed to 30 km/h within the Paris conurbation would cause an increase in pollution of the air or that such a speed limit would necessarily be less favorable in terms of emissions than a speed limit of 50 km/h”.
