The government is expected to announce, on Monday July 17, the replacement of the term “manslaughter” committed on the road by that of “road homicide” when the driver is alcoholic or drugged and causes the death of a person, reveals this Sunday BFM-TV. The announcement must be made by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne during an interministerial committee devoted to road safety (CISR), which will be held in Matignon.
“The ambition of this CISR is to carry protective measures, balanced and adapted to the daily life of millions of French people who share the roads of our country”, explains Matignon. According to BFM TV, at this stage, however, the government does not provide for a new sanctions regime.
This measure had been demanded for a long time by road accident associations. Recently, she returned to the news after the accident caused by Pierre Palmade who tested positive for cocaine and substitution drugs. On February 10, on a departmental road in Seine-et-Marne, the actor was driving a car that hit an oncoming vehicle. In addition to Pierre Palmade, the accident left three seriously injured: a 38-year-old man, his 6-year-old son and his 27-year-old sister-in-law, who lost the baby she was expecting after the collision. He was indicted for homicide and involuntary injuries by driver having used narcotics in a state of legal recidivism.
Several days after the accident, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin had launched avenues to fight against traffic crime, in an interview with the Sunday newspaper. He said he was working with Éric Dupond-Moretti to rename fatal accidents caused by drugs and alcohol as “road homicides”.
