Driving license inspectors are on strike across France this Monday, October 3. They want to defend a “quality public service” according to their press release. For several years, they have denounced the outsourcing and privatization of many inspector skills : the glaring example being the review of the highway code.
Road safety at stake
This phenomenon has harmful consequences according to Force Ouvrière (FO) union representative Catherine Bois. “Fraud and certificates of convenience have multiplied enormously. This is not tolerable since the road safety of young drivers is at stake. And despite this, the Ministry of the Interior, Mr. Darmanin, is considering a license project temporary authorization to drive” worries this inspector, in the Dordogne for 19 years.
Driving without a license
This model already exists in Belgium: driving schools issue a certificate temporarily authorizing driving, pending further review by an inspector.
“The State is aware that there are already these frauds. It wants to add to this the possibility that certain malicious driving schools can issue certificates of convenience. We have to make an assessment that holds up and we are there for that” concludes Catherine Bois.
One of the demands of the Snica-FO union is therefore the massive recruitment of inspectors.