France clamps down on dangerous drivers with new ‘road killing’ offence

No tougher penalties announces for offence formerly known as involuntary homicide by a driver

The French government has announced a clampdown on people who drive while unfit, months after a crash involving a high-profile comedian accused of drug-driving.

The prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, announced the creation of a new offence, of causing a “road killing”, specifically aimed at those who are unfit to be behind the wheel.

Causing death by dangerous driving was already covered in the French penal code under involuntary homicide, and officials acknowledge that the new term will not mean tougher penalties and is a symbolic change.

“I have listened to victims’ associations who are shocked when we speak of involuntary homicide when it involves a driver who might have been drinking alcohol or taking drugs before taking to the road,” Borne said on Monday. “In response to this demand, involuntary homicide by a driver will be renamed a road killing.”

She said the new offence would offer more support to victims even if the penalties were the same. It is not clear when the new terminology will come into effect as it requires a change of law to be passed by parliament.

The government has been under pressure to address the problem of drug- and drink-driving for at least a decade, and there were renewed calls for action after the popular comedian Pierre Palmade was arrested after the car he was driving struck another vehicle in February. Three people were seriously injured: a man, his six-year-old son, and a pregnant woman who had to have an emergency caesarean and lost her baby.

Palmade, 54, who has featured in several Astérix films, has admitted his struggle with drug addiction in interviews. French media reported that he tested positive for cocaine after the February accident. He has been put under investigation, the French equivalent of being charged, on suspicion of involuntary homicide by a “a driver who has used drugs”.

Palmade was taken to hospital after the crash and has not spoken publicly since. The public prosecutor said the comedian had “admitted having consumed cocaine as well as synthetic drugs before taking the wheel … He has indicated having no precise memory of the circumstances of the accident.”

In an interview after the Palmade incident, the interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, said he supported moves to reclassify fatal accidents caused by drivers or motorcyclists under the influence of drink or drugs as “road homicide”.

Changing the term “involuntary killing” to “road killing” will not increase the punishment, which is up to five years in prison and a fine of up to €75,000. These can be increased to up to seven years and €100,000 in the event of a single aggravating circumstance, and 10 years and €150,000 if there are more than one.

Official figures released in May showed that 3,267 people died as a result of road accidents in mainland France last year. The figure included 488 pedestrians and 245 cyclists. The death toll was a 1.5% increase on 2019 and a 10.3% increase on 2021. There are an estimated 770,000 drivers on French roads without a driving licence and consequently uninsured.

A report in June suggested that 15,000 people involved in road accidents in France each year had no insurance, 80% of them male. Half those under 30 involved in accidents were uninsured and 40% had no driving licence.

Two years ago, the National Interministerial Observatory for Road Safety reported that 770,000 people were using French roads without a driving licence. Those stopped by police blamed the cost of learning to drive, which averages €1,800, or having been banned from driving. In 2020, 6% of drivers involved in a fatal accident had no licence or insurance.

Cathy Bourgoin, the president of the Justice for Road Victims collective, welcomed the new classification. “Certain people will say it’s an empty gesture, but go tell that to the families of the victims for whom ‘involuntary homicide’ is unacceptable,” she said. “After so many years of battle, there are millions of families who have waited for this. It puts the human back into the law.”

Yannick Alléno, whose son Antoine died in a road accident in May last year, said he would continue to fight for drink- and drug-driving to be classified as a standalone offence.

France’s figures of 45 road fatalities per million inhabitants in 2021 are close to the average for the EU, higher than that of Montenegro (17) and Sweden (18) and lower than Romania (93), Bulgaria (81) and Latvia (78).

European analysis suggests that France has one of the highest self-reported frequencies of drink-driving, not improved by a lower than average number of alcohol and drug checks. People under 17 represent 22% of road deaths, higher than the EU average of 16%.