Overview
- The road safety agency reported 445 bodily-injury crashes and 37 deaths involving voiturettes in 2024, a 48% jump in one year and a doubling of mortality over five years.
- Use has expanded among teenagers who may drive certain models from age 14 after an eight-hour AM course, with eight victims aged 14–17 recorded between 2022 and 2024.
- Injury-crash data show elevated risk behaviors, with 13% of voiturette drivers testing positive for alcohol and 11% for drugs in 2024.
- An MMA-run demonstration at 50 km/h showed a 425 kg vehicle pushed more than ten meters with severe deformation, and experts predicted at least one fatality in the scenario.
- About 282,560 voiturettes are on French roads, and the category follows lighter homologation rules than standard cars, with no airbag requirement due to a 45 km/h speed limit.