“We must go further with zero tolerance”: Yannick Alléno’s proposals for road safety

On May 8, 2022, Antoine Alléno, son of Michelin-starred chef Yannick Alléno, was killed in Paris by Franky Deplechin , a drunk driver driving a stolen car. After two years of mobilization and more than 6,000 press articles on the subject, the law on road homicide (which the Alléno family had been calling for) has just been passed in its second reading in the National Assembly.

In mid-March, the Michelin-starred chef expressed concern in Le Figaro about the absence of this bill from the parliamentary agenda and asked Gérald Darmanin for a specific date for its consideration. A few months later, we asked the Michelin-starred chef and his association for their intentions in continuing this fight against road violence.

LE FIGARO. - The road homicide law you called for has just been passed in its second reading by the National Assembly. Before the Senate vote, what does this progress represent, and above all, what will come next?

Yannick ALLÉNO. - This law constitutes the essential legislative framework, the important starting point that families have long been waiting for. We needed the creation of this new offense to begin conducting effective prevention campaigns. It will set an example across Europe—Belgium is already taking inspiration from it.

But now, we need to go much further with zero tolerance. My future fight is zero alcohol while driving ! 0.5 grams is crap. And we need immediate sanctions: permanent seizure of the car for the first traffic offense (permanent seizure (confiscation) of the vehicle is a criminal sanction that can already be pronounced by the judge, Editor's note). I guarantee you that the first person to have their car seized, the one they pay for with their credit and their work - the fact that others know they will never get it back, will help change behavior. Rather than taking their car after partying, they will choose a VTC or a taxi .

You also denounce what I would call "administrative violence." What is this?

When Antoine died, we were faced with inhumane things. Dysfunctions are everywhere: you lose your child and you receive the ambulance bill, then a note saying that your child worked last year and still owes taxes to the state. If you can't afford to pay, your only solution is to refuse the inheritance: and then you're told that your child's T-shirt, his blanket, all his belongings that still have his scent on them, no longer belong to you.

The lack of humanity in the care of families is revolting: no psychological support, not even a bottle of water at the hospital. You get out of the ambulance, then you receive the emergency bill... And then the investigation times are far too long: months in the fridge (in the morgue, editor's note) when we could shorten the time with rapid examinations (using a scan and software for example). The insurance does not kick in until the judicial investigation is finished. How can you bury your child in these conditions? We must put humanity back into death, stop this violence which adds to the tragedy.

You attended the VivaTech trade show as part of your association's Impact project, which aims to innovate and develop road safety solutions. How do you think technology can revolutionize road safety?

I believe that new technologies can lead to significant changes for the common good. At VivaTech , we had an exceptional response with our 250 m² stand.

With Impact, we selected 70 outstanding innovation applications from over 120 submissions from 42 countries. One example: this onboard system, which, when danger is detected, emits vibrations in the seat or steering wheel to alert the driver, while simultaneously triggering a sound and light alert for the pedestrian.

President Emmanuel Macron came to visit our stand and told me straight in the eye that "we've wasted enough time." And he's right. We lost around 3,000 people on the roads last year, a third of whom were young people under 34. 1.2 million people are affected worldwide. When we talk about VivaTech, there's "life" in the name. This is exactly our fight: using technology to save lives.

You also rely heavily on art and culture to change mentalities...

Yes, art and music can give children a different perspective. We created the show "Fragile," an immersive and lively experience designed specifically to raise awareness among young people about the dangers of the road. It's now available on video.

We are preparing an exceptional event on September 13: several thousand portraits of young victims will be affixed to the Iéna bridge by the artist JR , at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. These thousands of faces will help us remember Antoine and all the others. We must deconstruct this idea that "it only happens to others." Antoine's disappearance created a social explosion and everyone must say to themselves "it could be mine." At the end of the weekend, the photos of all the faces will disappear. It's a moment we really wanted: to see these portraits of our children dissolve under the pressure of the water, exactly as they disappeared from our lives because of road violence. The firefighters, who collect the bodies on the roads, will also understand better than anyone the meaning of this gesture. There you have it, a new way of doing prevention through art.