The demonstrations are unlike some past protests that pressed for higher salaries. Now, people are seeking a reduction in the gas tax as well as expressing frustration with payroll taxes, which are used for social services like health care and social security, said Alexis Spire, a senior researcher in sociology at the National Center for Scientific Research, a government research agency.

The French taxes, known as social charges, can top 40 percent of paychecks and are used to cover health care, unemployment insurance and other services.

“It’s a big difference with movements such as the Tea Party in the United States,” Mr. Spire said, because the French want government involvement. “The French are very attached to their model of social protection and they are also very attached to government services.”

For those living outside of cities, it is often hard to feel they are getting their money’s worth. Unemployment has remained stubbornly high at nearly 10 percent. Rural hospitals have closed, making it more difficult for those in need to access health care despite the country’s universal health insurance. Mayor's budgets are shrinking in some localities, which means city hall might be open for fewer hours or the administrative jobs that used to be done there have moved to another town. That means more driving for those left without services.

Over the past few days the government has become increasingly alarmed by the movement. Though it began last May with a online petition about gas prices, it gained traction in October when a call went out for a national demonstration to block key roads in an effort to get the government’s attention.

With no central organization or coordination, the movement came together almost entirely on social media.</s>Drivers are blocking roads across France to protest against rising fuel taxes, in a new challenge to embattled President Emmanuel Macron.

Drivers are blocking roads across France to protest against rising fuel taxes, in a new challenge to embattled President Emmanuel Macron.

Protesters aim to target tollbooths, roundabouts and the bypass that rings Paris, while the government is preparing to send police to remove protesters and threatening fines.

The taxes are part of Mr Macron’s strategy of weaning France off fossil fuels.

Many drivers see them as emblematic of a presidency disconnected from day-to-day economic difficulties.

The protesters have dubbed themselves the “yellow jackets” because they wear fluorescent vests that all French drivers must keep in their vehicles in case of car troubles.

Separately, ambulances briefly blocked Paris’s Champs-Elysees on Friday to protest against new rules on ambulance financing and put pressure on Mr Macron’s government.</s>1 dead, dozens injured in protests across France against fuel taxes

PARIS — One protester was killed and 106 other people were injured Saturday at roadblocks set up around France by citizens angry at rising fuel taxes, posing a new challenge to embattled President Emmanuel Macron.

Police officers lobbed tear gas canisters at demonstrators on the famed Champs-Elysees Avenue in Paris as groups tried to make their way to the presidential Elysee Palace. Later, hundreds of protesters entered the street dotted with luxury shops where the palace is located — and where Macron lives.

They were seen on BFMTV talking with riot police when the officers suddenly raised their shields and pushed the group back.

French Interior Ministry officials estimated 244,000 protesters were involved in several thousand demonstrations around the country, many of them spontaneous.

The protester who died, a 63-year-old woman, was killed when a driver caught in traffic accelerated in a panic at Pont-de-Beauvoisin, near Chambery, according to Louis Laugier, the prefect, or top state official, in the eastern Savoie region. An investigation was opened.

Five people were seriously injured, while the others had more minor injuries, the Interior Ministry said. It added 52 people were detained and 38 held for questioning.

Protesters, wearing yellow safety vests and dubbing themselves the “yellow jackets,” pledged to target tollbooths, roundabouts and the highway bypass that rings Paris.

The higher taxes are part of Macron’s strategy to wean France off fossil fuels. Many drivers see them as emblematic of a presidency they view as disconnected from day-to-day economic difficulties and serving the rich.

Elaine Ganley is an Associated Press writer.</s>One protester was killed and 47 others were injured during roadblocks set up around France to demonstrate against rising fuel taxes, a new challenge to embattled President Emmanuel Macron.

The protester was killed when a driver caught in traffic accelerated in a panic at Pont-de-Beauvoisin, near Chambery, said Louis Laugier, the prefect, or top state official, in the eastern Savoie region. According to various French media reports, the protesters reportedly knocked on her car as she tried to take her daughter to a hospital. An investigation was opened.

Police said that three of the 47 injured in separate incidents at the protests are in serious condition, according to the ministry. Officials said that 24 people have been detained and 17 held for questioning.

The Interior Ministry said that around 125,000 protesters were involved in about 2,000 demonstrations around France.

The Interior Ministry said security forces used tear gas in several places to unblock major routes, notably at the access road to the Mont Blanc tunnel where about 30 canisters were fired.

Police at first held back protesters from advancing on Paris’ Champs-Elysees, with police vans blocking them from moving down the famed avenue. But up to 200 people were later seen walking down the street, apparently heading toward the Elysee presidential palace.

Protesters, wearing yellow safety vests and dubbing themselves the “yellow jackets,” had pledged to target tollbooths, roundabouts and the bypass that rings Paris. The fluorescent yellow vests donned by the protesters must be kept in the vehicles of all French drivers in case of car troubles.

The government sent in police to monitor tens of thousands of gathering points, some non-declared in advance and therefore illegal.

The taxes are part of Macron’s strategy of weaning France off fossil fuels. Many drivers see them as emblematic of a presidency they view as disconnected from day-to-day economic difficulties and serving the rich. However, protesters and their supporters have voiced anger about other issues, too, including diminishing buying power.

Robert Tichit, 67, a retiree, referred to the president as “King Macron.” “We’ve had enough of it. There are too many taxes in this country,” he told The Associated Press.</s>Drivers in France are blocking roads across the country to protest rising fuel taxes, in a new challenge to embattled President Emmanuel Macron.

Protesters pledge to target tollbooths, roundabouts and the bypass that rings Paris on Saturday. The government is preparing to send police to remove protesters and threatening fines.

The taxes are part of Macron's strategy of weaning France off fossil fuels. Many drivers see them as emblematic of a presidency seen as disconnected from day-to-day economic difficulties.

The protesters have dubbed themselves the "yellow jackets" because they wear fluorescent vests that all French drivers must keep in their vehicles in case of car troubles.

Separately, ambulances briefly blocked Paris' Champs-Elysees on Friday to protest new rules on ambulance financing and put pressure on Macron's government.</s>A woman has died during protests against rising petrol and diesel prices and government plans to further hike the tax on vehicle fuel in France.

Another woman driving a car panicked when she encountered a roadblock and ran over a protester, French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said on Saturday on live television.

The accident took place in the town of Pont-de-Beauvoisin, to the north of the city of Grenoble in south-eastern France, according to the minister.

Drivers started blocking roads across the country to protest rising fuel taxes, in a new challenge to embattled President Emmanuel Macron.

Protesters pledged to target tollbooths, roundabouts and the bypass that rings Paris on Saturday. The government is preparing to send police to remove protesters and threatening fines.

The taxes are part of Macron's strategy of weaning France off fossil fuels. Many drivers see them as emblematic of a presidency seen as disconnected from day-to-day economic difficulties.

The protesters have dubbed themselves the "yellow jackets" because they wear fluorescent vests that all French drivers must keep in their vehicles in case of car troubles.

Separately, ambulances briefly blocked Paris' Champs-Elysees on Friday to protest new rules on ambulance financing and put pressure on Macron's government.</s>PARIS
• A motorist accidentally hit and killed a protester taking part in a campaign of road blockades across France yesterday, as thousands gathered on motorways in a backlash against higher fuel taxes.

The demonstrators, part of a grassroots movement dubbed the "yellow vest" blockade, caused logjams on highways and blocked roundabouts as they railed against the fuel tax hikes introduced by President Emmanuel Macron.

The protests, largely orchestrated on social media and which aimed to prevent road access to some fuel depots and airports, have also drawn broader support from some voters dissatisfied with Mr Macron's economic reforms.

At a blockade on a road in the south-eastern department of Savoie, a driver panicked when protesters surrounded her car and she accelerated, hitting and killing a woman demonstrator, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said in televised comments.

Sixteen people had light injuries in other accidents across the country, while a person run over by a car in the north was in a critical state, according to the interior ministry.

Some incidents occurred as drivers not taking part tried to get around the blockades, police sources said.

More than 2,000 rallies were taking place across the country, gathering about 124,000 protesters, according to Mr Castaner's second assessment, at midday yesterday.

Protesters gathered at sensitive flashpoints including the entry to a tunnel under the Mont Blanc mountain in the Alps, and traffic was backed up on several highways.

There were also rallies in cities, including Marseille where about 100 people, wearing the high visibility vests drivers keep in their cars, blocked roads around its port.

The backlash is the latest confrontation between Mr Macron and voters, mostly based in the countryside and provincial towns and cities, who view the former investment banker as the representative of a remote urban elite.

During his 18 months in power, Mr Macron, 40, has often pushed through reforms, including an overhaul of indebted state rail operator SNCF, in the face of opposition from labour unions.

But the "yellow vest" movement has snowballed swiftly over the past month, catching Mr Macron and even opposition parties off guard.

It has already prompted a rare concession from the government, which announced earlier in the month fresh funds to help motorists on the lowest incomes.

Taxes account for about 60 per cent of the price at the pump in France.

The higher fuel taxes were approved late last year but started to bite as oil prices surged in October, even though they have since eased off somewhat.

France is trying to end its addiction to diesel. The diesel tax increases are designed to encourage drivers to switch to more environmentally-friendly cars.</s>IFOP surveys recently found that about a third of French people are “very dependent” on their car in their daily lives and another third “somewhat dependent,” so the price of gas has become a key element in the majority of French citizens’ budgets.

“The price of fuel is as politically and sociologically sensitive as the price of wheat in the ancient regime,” said Mr. Fourquet, referring to the 18th century when it was in part revolts over the price of flour that led to the French Revolution.

The government, recognizing in recent days that the movement was snowballing, has offered an array of benefits for low income earners. They include subsidies for switching to more fuel efficient cars, subsidies for gas purchases and rebates for changing to clean fuel for home heating.

So far, those offers have done little to calm the anger.

The caravan of about 100 cars that Mr. Lacombe joined blocked gas stations and lanes on main highways, and remained in place all day near the outskirts of Éragny. By midafternoon another 150 to 200 cars had joined them, in the small community, built in the 1960s, made up mostly of small one-family homes.

The other members of that group said they were politically in the center; some had voted for President Emanuel Macron in the last election and were now disillusioned; others supported center-right candidates.

Many were self employed, like Muriel Gautherin, 52, a chiropodist who lives in a suburban town near Éragny.

“We are simple citizens whose anger is simmering, simmering,” Ms. Gautherin said, pulling her red beanie cap over her ears to ward off the morning chill. “Among us are the retired people who feel they were fooled, the youth whose future is so uncertain and all those who feel like politicians are showing no respect for their struggles.”</s>Demonstrations in France over rising fuel prices have left more than 400 people injured, officials say, as protests spilled into a second day.

The French interior ministry said that nearly 300 protesters were questioned, with 157 among them taken into custody.

Some 288,000 people took part in Saturday’s protests, the ministry said, with scores under way on Sunday.

The demonstrators, known as the “yellow vests”, have been setting up roadblocks across France.

Many turned their anger on President Emmanuel Macron, who they accuse of being out-of-touch. He is yet to comment on the protests, and has seen his popularity slump in polls.

The president came to power last year vowing to overhaul the French economy and argues the hikes are needed to wean the French people off fossil fuels.

The government has announced a number of measures to help poorer families pay their energy and transport bills.

But support for the protests appears broad. Nearly three-quarters of respondents to a poll by the Elabe institute backed the Yellow Vests and 70% wanted the government to reverse the fuel tax hikes. (BBC)</s>One protester has died and 106 others injured in riots over French fuel taxes, in a new challenge to President Emmanuel Macron.

Police officers lobbed tear gas canisters at demonstrators on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on Saturday as groups tried to make their way to the presidential Elysee Palace.

Hundreds of protesters entered the bottom of the street, which is dotted with luxury shops and the palace, where Macron lives.

Demonstrators were seen on BFMTV talking with riot police when officers suddenly raised their shields and pushed the group back.

French Interior Ministry officials estimated at midday that about 244,000 protesters were involved in some 2,000 demonstrations around the country.

The protester who died, a 63-year-old woman, was killed when a driver caught in traffic accelerated in a panic at Pont-de-Beauvoisin, near Chambery, according to Louis Laugier, the prefect, or top state official, in the eastern Savoie region.

According to various French media reports, others reportedly knocked on her car as she tried to take her daughter to a hospital.

An investigation has been opened.

Five people were seriously injured, while the others had more minor injuries, the Interior Ministry said in an early evening statement, raising an earlier count.

It said 52 people were detained and 38 held for questioning.

Protesters, wearing yellow safety vests and dubbing themselves the ‘yellow jackets’, pledged to target tollbooths, roundabouts and the bypass that ring Paris.

Hundreds of protesters took over the Place de la Concorde at the bottom of the avenue, shouting ‘Macron resign’ as police looked on.

Tensions rose when a group of protesters moved in front of the US Embassy, which is located on a corner of the Place.

The rise in fuel taxes, notably for diesel fuel, have sparked outrage by citizens who feel the president has asked ordinary citizens to make the largest efforts in his bid to transform France.

The taxes are part of Macron’s strategy to wean France off fossil fuels. Many drivers see them as emblematic of a presidency they view as disconnected from day-to-day economic difficulties and serving the rich.

Robert Tichit, 67, a retiree, referred to the president as ‘King Macron, and added: ‘We’ve had enough of it. There are too many taxes in this country.’
Hundreds of thousands protest against fuel taxes in France by blocking roadways. One person is killed and more than 200 are injured in subsequent altercations.