what the creation of an offense of “road homicide” changes

In Raphaëlle Padiolleau’s daughter’s room, nothing has changed for four years. Frozen on the wall, her calendar stops dead at June 21, 2019. Elsa Padiolleau was 20 years old. That night in Poitiers (Vienna), her boyfriend accompanied her by car from the Fête de la Musique, when they were hit head-on by a wrong-way driver. The young woman was killed instantly, and her companion was seriously injured. Last October, the driver involved was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for manslaughter, a term that still haunts Raphaëlle Padiolleau.

The penalties remain the same

Victims’ families have long called for reclassification. If the bill which was studied by the deputies in the National Assembly on Monday January 29 is adopted, the perpetrators of fatal accidents with aggravating circumstances will now be sentenced for “road homicide”, a new offense thought of following several road tragedies which shocked public opinion last year. The maximum penalties incurred remain unchanged: ten years in prison and a fine of 150,000 euros when the driver has consumed drugs and alcohol, for example.