Maximilien Carlier // Photo credit: Magali Cohen / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP 10:47 a.m., February 19, 2024

MEPs want to soon bury the driving license for life. Instead, the precious sesame will be accompanied by a compulsory medical examination every 15 years for older drivers. In Hauts-de-France, residents are blowing hot and cold around the project. 

Will the lifetime driving license soon be history? The European Parliament must validate next month the principle of a compulsory medical examination every fifteen years for everyone. In the sights of parliamentarians, particularly young people and seniors, two groups often more exposed to road deaths than the rest of the population. 

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“I think that’s going a bit far”

But for Bertrand, 66 years old, it is inconceivable that the famous pink paper would be taken away from him. The retiree lives in the countryside and uses his car every day. “If we don't do the visit, we'll have our license taken away. I think that's going a bit far. It's a bit of a cop-out,” he judges. 

“More formalities” he adds... and above all: who will pay, the retiree wonders. A little further on, Joëlle and her companion are rather in favor of toughening the licensing rules. “We both agree to have a medical examination for the ears, eyes, reflexes. Especially since when we hear the seriousness of certain accidents, it moves us,” she continues on the microphone of Europe 1.

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Awareness

Currently, almost 20,000 people die each year on European roads. A figure too high for Florence, who believes that this measure is going in the right direction. “My dad, who was 90 years old, was still driving at the end of his life and he was becoming very dangerous in my opinion. So we decided to take the keys from him. He understood and he accepted,” explains- she said. 

But not everyone trusts those around them, she insists. And after a certain age, many are not aware of the danger they represent while driving.