Decreased reflexes, confusion between the brake and the accelerator... Are driving fitness tests necessary to avoid tragedies?

Thirteen injured in Narbonne (Aude) after a nonagenarian driver crashed into a restaurant terrace; eight injured in Warmeriville (Marne) after the accident caused by a septuagenarian who drove his car into a bakery; a retired couple injured after the octogenarian driver lost control of his vehicle: Pauline Déroulède lists these recent incidents. "It's always the same reasons, either the accelerator or the brake, or the pseudo-discomfort. I feel like I'm reliving my accident every time," laments the Paralympic tennis champion, who lost her left leg in 2018 in Paris, mowed down by a nonagenarian who mistook the brake for the accelerator, "a victim of himself through his ineptitude."

Since then, the woman who embodies the collective Sauver des vies c'est permis, launched in February 2024, has been ardently campaigning to prevent these tragedies.

The tragic story behind a fight

Currently in France, there is a mandatory medical check-up by an approved doctor for anyone suffering from a condition considered incompatible with continuing to drive, or to recover this right following invalidation, suspension or cancellation.

The cross-party bill (PPL), led by Horizons MP Frédéric Valletoux, is structured around a medical certificate to be provided upon obtaining a license and then renewed every 15 years until the age of 70, and then every five years thereafter. "We now need to translate this common-sense idea into law," emphasizes Frédéric Valletoux. "The fight is to ensure medical checkups for all drivers, not just the elderly. We are not all equal, and that's why everyone needs a medical checkup, even if we often talk about seniors," insists Pauline Déroulède.

She did not forget her driver, "a gentleman who had an extremely complicated end of life, being fully aware of what he had done and what he could have avoided doing if he had had a check-up."

The autonomy of seniors in question

But associations and professionals are alarmed by the de facto "stigmatization" of seniors. "A driving license is a major factor in the independence of older people. Current legislation and ongoing debates favor self-assessment of aptitude rather than strict and potentially arbitrary limitations," emphasizes Les Petits frères des pauvres, adding that "maintaining the ability of older people to move independently is fundamental to their well-being and to combating their isolation."

Statistics on accidents caused by driving impairment are scarce and lacking in detail. However, according to the National Interministerial Road Safety Observatory (ONISR), in 2024, 3,161 people were presumed responsible for fatal accidents, 14% of which were caused by inattention, 10% by fainting, and 4% by driving the wrong way. Those aged 75 and over accounted for 17% of those killed and 12% of those presumed responsible for fatal accidents.

Olivier Guérin, a university professor and geriatrics practitioner at the Nice University Hospital, is also concerned about the "stigmatization of a certain segment of the population" with such a law. "We can only sympathize and empathize, but we must not resort to the shorthand: this accident happened because he was old, so we must ban all old people from driving," explains Olivier Guérin, "because it's an extremely severe penalty to no longer drive."