This will be one of the little novelties of next year. Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne announced, in an interview with the media Brut, that “from January 2024, we will be able to pass the driving license from the age of 17 and drive from the age of 17.” If the lowering of the age “concerns all young people, it does not necessarily interest a young person who lives in a city very well served by public transport.” “To allow the driver’s license to be passed earlier, I think it is more true for these young people” who are experiencing a “real hassle”, indicated the head of government. While the majority had already passed a law to better inform young people about the financing of the driving license and to reduce the time before the exam, this reform divides the driving school sector.
For the French driving school network (ECF), passing the license at 17 “promotes the mobility of young people”. “In a country like ours, with the challenges posed by rurality, you have to be mobile,” says Patrick Mirouse, president of the ECF. And to note a contradiction in the current system: “Those who do accompanied driving can pass the license at 17 but cannot drive before 18, so there is a loss of experience.” Especially since many young people need this precious title before they come of age to go and work in a company in which they are on a work-study program. “These announcements from the Prime Minister support the reform of vocational high schools. The aid for the financing of the €500 permit will make it possible to remove a major obstacle to the integration into employment of vocational high school students”, enthused Carole Grandjean, Minister Delegate in charge of Education and Training. professionals.
But the arguments in favor of lowering the age threshold do not convince the whole ecosystem. “How can such measures, which have such heavy consequences in terms of human life, be envisaged when no impact study, no consideration of statistics on road mortality and morbidity, no consultation with teaching professionals in driving, nor with the authorities in charge of road safety, public or private, have been conducted? “, growled Bruno Garancher, president of Unidec, professional union of driving education, in early April, when the idea had been raised. And to vehemently recall the possible consequences of such a device in terms of accidents: “Do we need to remember that in 2022, 18-24 year olds were still the most affected by road deaths, with 101 killed per million ‘inhabitants of this age group?’
At the front against these tragedies, Jean-Yves Lamant, president of the League against road violence, deplored a measure which is “the opposite of what must be done to halve the number of road deaths in 2030”. In response, Elisabeth Borne promised Tuesday evening to be “very attentive to the level required” to obtain the permit. The executive is also “in the process of strengthening road safety certificates to make them sort of precodes”. In this regard, the Prime Minister also argued that there had “not been more accidents” in neighboring countries which have a driving license at 17 years old.
However, road safety is not the only aspect highlighted by critics of the reform. “What is proposed does not solve the problems of delays and cost of driving licenses. This measure does nothing to improve matters. We would have preferred that the government better value accompanied driving and that it allow the population going through this learning path an earlier passage around 17 years old, “lamented Damien Mascaras, deputy secretary general of the national union Force Ouvrière des inspectors. , executives and administrative authorities for driving licenses and road safety. While 700,000 young people aged 18 to 24 pass their license each year, the trade unionist explains that “this new influx will mechanically increase the waiting time to obtain his sesame. All the more so during the first years of the implementation of the measure, due to a windfall effect.
Until now, a young person in accompanied driving can already pass the B license at 17, but he only has the right to drive alone on the day of his 18th birthday. To remedy this problem, the ECF network thus proposes “to support the system, with the establishment of an improvement appointment within two to four months after obtaining a permit.” In addition, Patrick Mirouse is in favor of “raising the age of accompanied driving to 14 years old because that is the starting point of everything”: “We would give 14 years old the possibility of the right to drive a small cart. It would be attractive and it would allow young people who want the freedom to drive the little one alone and the big one with the parents. If the proposal is not currently in the government’s perspective, it could well spark a lot of debate in the coming months.
