Darmanin to deduct 12 points for driving under narcotics

Darmanin in favor of tougher penalties for driving under the influence of narcotics

One week after the accident caused by Pierre PalmadeGérald Darmanin, the Minister of the Interior, says he is in favor of tougher penalties for people driving under the influence of narcotics.

“I propose the withdrawal of the twelve points from the driving license for anyone who drives while they have taken drugs”, thus declared the Minister to the Sunday Journal (JDD) of February 19, specifying that at the Currently, “the loss of the license is automatic only in the event of recidivism”.

Currently, driving under the use of narcotics is punishable by the loss of six points. Additional penalties may also result in the suspension of the license for a maximum period of three years and the cancellation of the license with a maximum three-year ban on applying for a new licence.

Towards such measures for “alcoholic” drivers

The Minister of the Interior subsequently added on Twitter that he wanted to apply the same measure to “those who drive under alcohol”.

A “reflection is underway” for people driving with a high blood alcohol level, said the minister’s entourage. A “threshold” would have to be defined, for example greater than 0.8 g/litre of blood. “All of this still needs to be discussed,” said the same source.

Towards a mandatory medical examination

Gérald Darmanin also wants to “make it compulsory” for any proven drug user to have a medical examination. Objective: to authorize him to drive subject to his commitment to treatment.

As a reminder, Pierre Palmade was subjected to a drug detection test, which proved positive for cocaine, following a road accident which, in addition to the actor, left one dead and three seriously injured. The comedian was indicted on Friday for homicide and involuntary injuries and assigned to the hospital with an electronic bracelet.

Drug and alcohol road homicide concept

The Minister of the Interior was also annoyed to see cocaine “presented”, according to him as a “recreational” drug. “There are no recreational drugs: there are only lethal drugs. About 600 people die each year in drug-related road accidents,” he said. According to figures from Road Safety, it would even be 700 people who died.

Based on the association’s proposal, Darmanin also says he is working with the Minister of Justice Eric Dupond-Moretti to rename fatal accidents caused by drugs and alcohol as “road homicide”.

Reinforcement of road checks

Gérald Darmanin also announced in the JDD the reinforcement of road checks aimed at detecting drivers under narcotics. “I gave the instruction to make a million this year”, he says, assuring that “16% of controls for the use of narcotics while driving turned out to be positive, against 3% of those concerning alcohol” . According to him, 800,000 roadside checks “against drugs” took place in 2022, “double the number of previous years”.

Tougher on delinquents, cooler on working people

The Minister of the Interior has also confirmed that he is studying the abolition of point deductions for “small speeding violations, less than 5 km / h”. “We need to be tougher with offenders and more understanding with working people,” he said. Recalling, however, that excessive speed remained, according to Road Safety, the leading cause of road accidents.

Our opinion, by leblogauto.com

If the objective is laudable, the fact remains that such a measure could be circumvented, in particular by modifying the name of the driver… If the “traffic” of points already exists outside a context of drugs, it could take on a large scale here, let’s not dream… some people could be ready to pay large sums to find a person willing to carry the “load” in their place.

An outright withdrawal of the permit would be more effective.

Source: AFP