This is an initiative that is sure to provoke a reaction. In order to reduce road deaths, Road Safety has launched an information campaign aimed at the general public to present a little-known procedure which allows a citizen to notify the authorities of the unfitness of a loved one to drive. . Here’s how it works.
A report to the prefecture
In an infographic shared by our colleagues from Geek JournalRoad Safety goes over the different steps to follow. If you notice that someone is unfit to drive, but you cannot convince them to stop, you may decide to report them to the authorities for their own safety and that of other road users.
Concretely, any citizen can send a postal or electronic letter to the prefect of the department of the citizen concerned. This message must be sufficiently detailed and include specific elements: your contact details, the identity of the driver and the reasons which prompt you to take this action.
The prefecture will then analyze this file. If she judges that the latter is not convincing enough, no action will be taken and the person reported will retain the possibility of driving. On the other hand, if the letter is deemed valid, the authorities will inform the person concerned and impose a medical check-up with an approved doctor.
The healthcare professional will then send an opinion of fitness or unfitness to drive to the prefecture. On the basis of this document, the prefect can decide to maintain or suspend the driving license with or without conditions. The driver will be informed by mail.
To avoid any abuse of this procedure, you should know that any abusive or slanderous report is an offense punishable by five years of imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros. Enough to deter malicious individuals or a bit of a prankster.
An initiative criticized
You only need to read the various comments posted online to understand that this approach is not unanimous. Thus, some Internet users see it as a form of denunciation and fear potential family conflicts or invasions of privacy. Others, on the contrary, judge that the procedure is too long and complicated.
In any case, this initiative comes in a delicate context in France, since road deaths (2,661 deaths since the start of the year) are up 2% in October compared to the same period last year. .
