Editorial. Roads: Speed and Smartphone, a Deadly Combo

Such a reversal of the trend can have no other explanation than a culpable relaxation of driving behavior. At least, this is the conviction of Minister François-Noël Buffet , faced with the overwhelming figures for road deaths in July: in total, 338 people lost their lives last month on France's roads, an increase of 23% compared to the same period last year. A jump impossible to explain solely by departures on vacation and favorable weather having thrown more motorists onto the roads.

To understand, let's go back to the numbers: they are stubborn. First observation, the killer, in nine out of ten cases, is speed. Which - like its excessive use - comes solely from the will of motorists. A phenomenon amplified, it is again the minister who affirms it, by the increasingly uninhibited use of smartphones while driving. In 2024, our cell phones were involved in one in ten accidents involving bodily injury... The perfect losing combo - speed plus inattention - too often at the origin of tragedies, like those we have seen in recent weeks on the roads of Franche-Comté or Lorraine .

To counter this, the recent instructions for vigilance and severity issued to law enforcement may unfortunately not be enough. No one seriously believes that anyone has "let go" on this front. If a remedy exists, it lies in education and prevention, which is undoubtedly still underdeveloped. But it is also, perhaps, in technology: speed can be mechanically restricted; a smartphone in a passenger compartment can be jammed.

A question of political will.