The Minister of the Interior made this announcement in the JDD, nine days after the accident caused by comedian Pierre Palmade under the influence of cocaine and in which three people were seriously injured, including a pregnant woman who lost her six month old baby.

"The loss of the license is only automatic in recidivism today", pointed out the minister.

Currently, driving under the use of narcotics is punishable by the loss of six points.

Additional penalties can also lead to a suspension of the license for a maximum period of three years and a cancellation of the license, with a maximum of three years of prohibition to apply for a new license.

Gérald Darmanin also wants "to make a medical examination compulsory for any proven drug user, so that he is authorized to drive if he is being treated", and also says he is working "with Eric Dupond-Moretti to rename as + road homicide + the fatal accidents caused by drugs and alcohol".

The Minister of the Interior, who reiterated his desire to stop deducting points for speeding less than 5 km/h, stressed that "about 600 people die each year in road accidents linked to narcotics and that a total of 800,000 "drug" roadside checks took place in 2022, "double the number of previous years", he promised that there would be "one million this year".

Debate on "road homicide"

These announcements were greeted with circumspection by road accident associations and lawyers.

For Vincent Julé Parade, a lawyer specializing in the field, "the withdrawal of 12 points and the medical visit, that seems a good idea when we know that drug users say they are themselves sick, a medical visit would seem to be a good thing ".

"But you have to go all the way. It has to follow on the alcohol side, it's the second cause of accidents, it's also an addiction," said the lawyer to AFP.

"All that is good, but let's hope it's not just an announcement effect. Since he took office, we haven't heard much from Mr. Darmanin on road safety," noted Mr. Jule Parade.

Same reservation for the president of the League against road violence.

"We have the impression that the Minister of the Interior finally wants to talk about road safety. There is a real subject on the table despite all the setbacks recently on urban speed cameras, the abolition of the withdrawal of points for small excesses of speed," Jean-Yves Lamant told AFP.

“Accident rates have not changed for ten years, there are 3,500 deaths per year, it has not changed at all. Our message is quite clear: we must change the barometer, it is no longer acceptability but accidentality. And the objective to be achieved is zero deaths in 2050", insists Mr. Lamant for whom "road homicide is a real debate".

On this subject, Me Julé Parade believes that "what Mr. Darmanin proposes is to call a thing by its name, it is to change the semantics but the quantum of the penalty cannot change".

"The maximum sentence is 10 years (imprisonment) for traffic offenses in France. In the 20 years since the law has been toughened, to my knowledge the maximum of 10 years has never been imposed in France. The maximum that I met is 7 years old, and suspended", laments Me Julé Parade.

© 2023 AFP