A compulsory medical examination every fifteen years to keep your driving license?
The measure defended by MEP Karima Delli (Europe Ecology) did not find favor with the European Parliament, which voted this Wednesday on the report of the directive on driving licenses.
However, MEPs “invited member states to look into this issue”, notes the French MP and rapporteur of the text.
They “let EU countries decide whether the self-assessment should be replaced by a medical examination with a minimum set of checks on the eyesight and cardiovascular conditions of drivers, among others”, specifies the European Parliament in a press release .
Device that exists in other European countries
The measure provided that driving licenses would be valid for only fifteen years for motorcycles, cars and tractors, five years for trucks and buses.
To obtain and renew the precious document, a health check would have been obligatory.
It was a question of testing the “sight, hearing and reflexes” of drivers, not only the oldest but “everyone, from the moment they obtain their license”, explained Karima Delli on Tuesday during a debate. in Parliament on the subject.
This reform was part of the European road safety strategy which aims to reduce the number of deaths and injuries on the roads by 50% by 2030 and to get closer to zero deaths by 2050. More 20,000 people die on EU roads every year and more than 160,000 are seriously injured.
This type of system already exists in certain EU countries, notably Portugal, Spain, Greece, Italy and the Czech Republic.
In France, the idea of this reform was welcomed by road safety associations.
French citizens would even be mostly in favor, at 59%, according to an Ifop study unveiled by Le Parisien on Sunday.
The proposal also sparked an outcry from others, notably from 40 million motorists who launched a petition, denouncing a measure “openly hostile to motorists”.
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