It is not yet stuck on all trucks that the new sticker, now mandatory to indicate blind spots on these vehicles, is already criticized.
The professionals of the road cry with the haste and the measure gadget.
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Since January 1, heavy goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes as well as coaches must be fitted with this new signaling device, so that it is visible on the sides but also at the rear.
Detailed by a decree to be published on Wednesday, this new yellow and black sticker should allow vulnerable people to be alerted to these blind spots.
Where he is, the pedestrian, the cyclist or even the user of a scooter is not always visible to the driver who, in a maneuver, may overturn him.
Accidents which often lead to terrible tragedies.
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It is also under these circumstances that in 2018 a parliamentary attaché lost her life on a bicycle in the streets of the capital.
A year after this death which had created a stir, parliamentarians voted for this measure.
The enthusiasm for the bicycle which does not weaken and the multiplication of scooters in our cities justified, for Parliament, that we take measures so that the trap of blind spots is no longer ignored.
Today, the driver who does not put the sticker is liable to a fine of 135 euros.
"It's baroque"
However, for road professionals, this sticker is quite a gadget, as affirmed by Jean-Marc Rivera, the secretary general of the Organization of European Road Transporters (OTRE).
For him, developing new technologies by using cameras allowing the driver to see other users would have been more relevant.
“Ten years ago, the city of Paris had already offered stickers, but no one has since measured their effectiveness.
Does the cyclist while riding really have time to see the sticker? "
, he asks, also evoking practical considerations.
Heavy goods vehicles sometimes have tarpaulin trailers on which the sticker does not fit ...
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In one voice, unions and federations of road transporters also believe that everything was done in haste.
“The measure has been mandatory since January 1 and the decree comes out six days later.
It's baroque, ”
one notes to the National Federation of Road Transport (FNTR).
So that the profession has time to seize the measure, instruction was given to the police not to verbalize the offenders for three months.
In addition, for twelve months and even if they do not correspond to the new model, old anti-blind spot stickers will also do the trick.
But this relative flexibility does not reassure professionals.
"In the event of an accident, if the sticker is not put on or is not up to standard, the driver's liability may be aggravated,"
the FNTR fears.