Everyone has already made this error at the wheel, but drivers who continue could soon be removed their driving license. This French department is rampant …
On the road, everyone can make a mistake. A light speed, a flashing forgetting, a poorly respected stop. Gestures that seem harmless, but reminding that the highway code is not a series of unnecessary constraints: it is mainly used to protect. The recent road safety figures illustrate this force: in August 2024, road mortality jumped 18 % in mainland France compared to the same month of the previous year, making this deadly month since 2011. A balance sheet that the authorities deem concern.
Among all the offenses noted each year, it is a particularly frequent. It is sanctioned by a fine of 135 euros and causes a withdrawal of three points to the license. It belongs to the category of fourth class tickets, one of the intermediate severity levels in the Highway Code sanctions scale. The police forces draw hundreds of minutes every day for this behavior that has become almost banal, to the point that many drivers seem to forget the risks it makes run.
In the Landes, the authorities therefore decided to raise their tone. The prefect announced that from this month of October, motorists caught in the act will receive, in addition to the usual sanction, a written warning. This first step aims to be educational. But from November 1ᵉʳ, if the behaviors do not evolve, the representative of the State may pronounce the administrative suspension of the driving license for offenders. Since the beginning of the year, 3,163 drivers have already been verbalized for this offense in the department, proof that the phenomenon is far from marginal.
For the time being, this measure will only apply to Landes and constitutes an experimental phase. The stated objective is to provoke an electric shock in the face of a problem of “state of mind”, in the words of the prefect. Because taking the steering wheel of a 1.5 -ton vehicle requires total attention, and each distraction can be expensive. It remains to be seen whether this local approach will have a lasting effect on behavior.
