The creation of an offense of “road homicide” for motorists who will cause a fatal accident, the associations for the defense of victims have been calling for it for a long time. Elisabeth Borne announced it at the end of an Interministerial Committee for Road Safety, this Monday, July 17, in Matignon. Other measures were also unveiled. But the associations are not completely satisfied.
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It had been five years since this Committee had met. And on arrival, the main measure is symbolic: motorists will no longer be prosecuted for “manslaughter”, but for “road homicide”. The penalties will not change.
” Someone who takes his car, who has been drinking, who has taken cocaine, it’s a voluntary act, we get into a car which is a weapon by destination, so I’m happy that we change this term, reacts Dominique-Michel Courtois, president of the National Federation of Road Victims. But what is needed now is for the judges to apply the penalties as they should be applied. You can go up to ten years in prison. »
Automatic license suspension
The government also wants to make automatic the suspension of the license for motorists who have consumed narcotics or alcohol, pending their judgment. Driving while drinking and taking drugs will now lose eight points. The prefect can for the moment decide to suspend the permit, ” tomorrow he will have to suspend “, summed up the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin.
Withdrawal of eight points against six points today, when someone is now controlled with driving under narcotics and under alcohol. Second, mandatory suspension by the prefect of the department, which ranges from six months to one year. When someone drives under narcotics, until today, the prefect could suspend, tomorrow he will have to suspend. And third, immobilization of the vehicle.
Gérald Darmanin, French Minister of the Interior
Not enough to halve the number of road deaths by 2030, as the executive has undertaken, according to Anne Lavaud, of the Road Prevention association. “ There is indeed a gap between the official objective and the measures taken, she says. There are six and a half years left, it’s very short. In any case, in the months, in the years to come, there will have to be other more effective measures. Road Prevention, like other associations, are calling in particular for a reduction in speed in the city.
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