Road Safety will launch on Wednesday an awareness campaign on the consequences of drug use while driving, a major factor in accidents on French roads, especially among young drivers.
According to official statistics, in 2022, 672 people died in traffic accidents involving a driver who had used drugs, which represents one in every five fatal accidents. In 91% of the cases the driver was a man and in 58% of the cases he was between 18 and 24 years old.
Increase in projections
It is important “to remember that there is a high mortality rate associated with addictive behaviors, whether drugs or alcohol,” Florence Guillaume, interministerial delegate for Road Safety, told AFP, specifying that the proportion of positive drivers after a fatal accident at night or On weekends it rises to almost 30%.
For the launch of this campaign, Florence Guillaume went to Fleury-Mérogis, to carry out a roadside check, while the police increased drug checks with 764,331 checks carried out in 2022, compared to just over 630,000 in 2021.
“This will continue to increase in 2023,” said Florence Guillaume, insisting on “education” also linked to these driver detection controls.
The new campaign, which begins Wednesday in theaters and Sunday on television, “metaphorically illustrates the loss of reflexes of a driver who has taken drugs,” explains Seguridad Vial, sending the message that “drugs turn you into a danger to you and a danger to others. .”
In July, Élisabeth Borne announced, at the end of an inter-ministerial commission on road safety, that she wanted to increase penalties and “make mandatory” the suspension of the license in case of driving under the influence of drugs.
“This desire persists, but requires legislative support. A bill or a bill will be needed. We are still doing preparatory work,” explained Guillaume.
In 2022, 3,260 people died on French roads.
Source: BFM TV
