2023-04-19 22:44:22
A fine but more withdrawal of a point on the license. From January 1, 2024, minor speeding offenses will be less sanctioned. The measure, revealed this Wednesday by the daily Be Matin who unearthed it in a letter from Gérald Darmanin dated April 11 and addressed to the LR deputy from Var Françoise Dumont, is not a surprise.
The Minister of the Interior had been thinking for months “in order to adapt the repressive regime applicable to minor speeding violations”, without however “decriminalizing these offenses which will remain punishable by a fine”, writes the latter in his missive, while by specifying that it is a question of “introducing an administrative indulgence with regard to these breaches which are more a matter of lack of attention than of the deliberate desire to free oneself from the rule. »
The gesture is not symbolic because these micro-speedings (between 1 and 5 km / h) represented more than half (58%) of the 12.5 million fines inflicted by automatic speed cameras over the year 2020 “This is good news because it will relieve the daily life of ordinary drivers, not the crazy drivers but those who, sometimes, can have a forgetfulness at the wheel and see their driving license threatened because of a succession of losses. only one point”, reacts Mathieu Lesage, a Parisian lawyer specializing in road law.
A “paradigm shift”
The association 40 million motorists, an ardent defender of a relaxation of the rules of the Highway Code, is even more enthusiastic. For its general delegate and spokesperson, it is even “a revolution”. “This is the first time since 2011 that a government has finally decided on a measure in favor of motorists, rejoices Pierre Chasseray, who recalls that his association has been working on its adoption “for many years”.
“Its implementation at the beginning of next year will prove that there is no link between an increase in the number of victims on the road and these minor speeding violations. This is a major paradigm shift because it will allow us to obtain further relaxations in the future, starting with the abolition of the fine for those excesses of less than 5 km/h beyond the authorized limit. »
Today, and until the end of this year, speeding less than 20 km/h is penalized by one point less on the license and a fine of 68 euros (on roads where the speed maximum authorized speed is greater than 50 km/h) or 135 euros (on roads where the maximum authorized speed is less than or equal to 50 km/h).
“To console the French who are scalded against the current political power”
The reactions to this relaxation are obviously diametrically different on the side of associations and lawyers responsible for defending victims of road accidents. “I am unfortunately not surprised because Gérald Darmanin had announced that he was thinking of doing it last year, between the two rounds of the legislative elections, regrets Vincent Julé-Parade, lawyer specializing in personal injury law. The announcement today is very timely and very political, and aims to console the French who are scalded against the current political power. It is very dangerous to trade off a few points in the polls for the risk of losing lives on the road. The figures for the month of March were good but have been up and down for two years and still remain very fragile and very sensitive to the slightest announcement of renunciation. »
3,260 people died on the roads of mainland France in 2022, a balance sheet at a stable level (+ 0.5%) compared to 2019, the last reference year before the pandemic.
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