Road safety associations and driving schools are concerned about the lack of maturity of learner drivers, as well as the lack of inspectors to pass the exam.
To promote employment and training for young people, the government plans to lower the legal age for obtaining a driving license from 18 to 17 years old. According to information from franceinfo, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne could announce this measure on Wednesday June 21, on the occasion of the presentation of the government’s youth plan, resulting from the National Council for Refoundation dedicated to youth. But some driving schools and road safety associations prefer to press the brake pedal. Franceinfo explains why.
Because young people are the first victims on the road
At present, it is only possible to drive at 17 via the accompanied driving system. The measure devised by the government would be a game-changer and raises road safety issues. “It is worrying to see young people being given the wheel even younger, when they are already paying a heavy price (…) since they are affected twice as much in terms of road deaths as the average drivers”warns Pierre Lagache, vice-president of the League against road violence, on BFMTV.
According to the National Interministerial Road Safety Observatory, it is indeed the 18-24 year olds who are among the most at risk in road accidents: 549 killed last year (i.e. 101 killed per million inhabitants of this age) and 2,739 seriously injured (i.e. 506 serious injuries per million population of this age). “Are 17-year-olds really available for this?”asks Valérie Dijon, retired police commander, who now works in schools alongside road safety associations, on France 3. “The risk taking is not the same, because their brain is under construction.”
Because they would lack automatic driving
Learning to drive is one thing, experience is another. Here is what several driving school officials are saying, who fear leaving the wheel alone to 17-year-olds. For accompany this lowering, Patrick Bessone, vice-president of the Mobilians union in charge of driving schools, has an idea: “Make the post-licence internship mandatory six months after obtaining it”. “To learn, the younger you are, the better. At 17, you are less mature than at 18. This meeting should make it possible to discuss dangerous behavior on the road, to raise awareness”he explains on BFMTV.
But would it really be effective? Post-licence training already exists, it allows young drivers’ license holders to reduce the probationary period at the end of which they obtain 12 points. But Alexandra Legendre, spokesperson for the Drivers’ Defense League, regrets in the columns of the magazine Auto Moto whether this is “theoretical” and not enough “convenient”. It therefore remains to be seen what form these post-licence courses could take. “We need to learn emergency reflexes, braking, equipment, which we cannot learn on open roads because it is dangerous.”
Because it’s jammed in driving schools
The idea of allowing people to drive a car alone from the age of 17 “is not bad”. But in the departments where the lack of inspectors is already felt, the prospect worries. “It would take a lot of inspectors to pass the license to these students”assures Marie-Françoise Le Berre, head of the Mobilians driving school union in Hauts-de-France, on France Bleu. “In the North, there is an effective shortage. 25% of inspectors are on sick leave at the moment, and with the holidays starting, they are only 50% in the field”calculates this boss of a driving school in Lens (Pas-de-Calais). “If all young people decide to pass their license at 17, we will not be able to pass them.”
Emmanuel Cilly, independent driving instructor in the Bouches-du-Rhône, confirms on France 3 that the measure can only work if the government increases the number of inspectors.
“The waiting list will be longer. Students are already waiting 3-4 months before they can take the driving license exam.”
Emmanuel Cilly, an independent driving instructor in Bouches-du-Rhôneon France 3
Benjamin Gaignault, founder of the online driving school Ornikar, does not see how to accommodate this influx of new candidates either.. “Just by going to 17 and just looking at the birth rate, you add an additional 700,000 people”, he explains to BFMTV. A figure to put into perspective: as is the case today with 18-year-olds, it is difficult to imagine that tEvery age group rushes to pass their license from the age of 17.