2024-02-27 21:07:00
Benoît Godart from the Vias Institute was our guest on Bel RTL this Tuesday evening. At the microphone of Frédéric Delfosse, he spoke of the tragic accident this Sunday, in Flanders involving a person stripped of his driving license. According to him, to prevent this type of situation from recurring, it is not enough to delete the registration plate, “it is not a miracle solution”.
Is a medical examination to keep your driving license a good measure?
If it concerns all drivers, yes, why not. We already have young drivers aged 25, for example, who have vision problems. Why not check every x years if you are still fit to drive. You should know that today, the renewal of the new license is a purely administrative formula.
One could imagine that when you go to your administration to renew your license, you present a certificate from a doctor saying that you are still fit to drive.
And so we could ask you for a test?
Not ask for a test, but ask for a certificate saying that you have seen your doctor, attending physician or other, and that he certifies that you are fit to drive. I think everyone goes to the doctor at least once a year and it’s time to ask for a fitness to drive certificate. It wouldn’t change much.
We thought of older people with this measure. But in fact, they are not the ones most often involved in accidents…
No not at all. Seniors are four times less involved in serious accidents than young drivers. And in fact, seniors, in two out of three deaths, are pedestrians and cyclists. In other words, they are more dangerous in traffic than they are dangerous.
Imposing an age from which they should retake their license and not the rest of the population is not justified. In terms of road safety, it makes no sense.
Since yesterday, we have been talking about this accident in Flanders, involving a man who lost his driving license. He is 45 years old, he drives under the influence of alcohol and he hits a group of cyclists. Two people died, three others were seriously injured. Today, we don’t check when we have lost our license? Can we insure a car, can we register a vehicle?
It’s true that this is a gap. On the other hand, if a plate is removed, the whole family is penalized. Maybe this person’s wife also tends to drive, or his son. We could consider striking off the license plate, but that won’t stop him, for example, from taking another car. This is not necessarily the silver bullet.
What is the solution for these people who are deprived of their right to drive?
Three things: firstly, the advanced license allows them to be identified as quickly as possible in their delinquent journey, and therefore it would go much faster.
Secondly, alternative sentences also have much more effects, since we see a risk of recidivism which drops by 50% for those who follow them compared to traditional sentences.
And finally, what we call the LOCK permit. It’s what? It is a European database which lists all permits in Europe. And so, when you get into the car, there will be contact between the car and this database which certifies that you are in possession of a valid license, and the car will not start if you are not in possession of a valid license. possession of a license.
And this could be done like we had our CovidSafeTicket during the pandemic, we would have to scan a QR code?
Yes, that’s it, it’s the same principle. And already in France, they are a step further, since there, the license is dematerialized. This means that you are checked, you can present your smartphone instead of the license. This is a step in that direction.
Perhaps being able to start your car provided you have scanned your license beforehand, would that be one of the solutions that would be imposed on these people?
This would be the most plausible solution, because we really have to physically prevent them from driving, these people have no cure other than to respect the main rules, and so if we don’t physically prevent them, it’s going to be hard to control them.
benoît godart vias
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