Accident – French Cars

French Citizens Call for Harder Fines on Drug Driving After French Actor’s Crash.

French comedian and actor Pierre Palmade caused a head-on crash in the village of Villiers-en-Biere during February, while he was driving under the influence of cocaine. The crash led to the death of a 27-year-old pregnant women, while a 38 year old man and a 6-year-old child are still in intensive care.

If he is found guilty of causing the baby’s death by ‘involuntary manslaughter’, Mr Palmade risks 20 years of prison, especially given his long and well-documented history with drugs.

If not, he still risks five years in prison, and 10 years if his drug history (and previous related convictions) are taken into account.

The accident has caused uproar in Paris, with many calling for stricter fines and ban on drug driving.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has also called for perpetrators to have their license revoked. He told le Journal du Dimanche: “Naming things properly enables us to acknowledge the magnitude of these events.”

He has particularly called for the word ‘involuntary’ to be removed from the crime’s title, to be replaced instead with ‘road homicide’ (rather than ‘involuntary homicide’ caused by the consumption of drugs or alcohol).

Mr. Darmanin has also said that anyone who consumes alcohol or drugs before driving should have 12 points taken from their license, which would, in practice, mean their license is suspended.

This is in contrast to the current laws, which state that a driver can only have their license taken away for a second offence.

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws1oB8fZacE

Car Displaying French Flag Kills 14-Year-Old Morocco Fan

The World Cup was an exciting time for global fans. There were speculations over Qatar’s potential to pull off sport’s greatest spectacle, but not only has the Middle East delivered on its promise, but has also united fans from over the world.

However, all was not peace and serene during the world cup, as fan protests in France turned ugly. The city of Montpellier was host to routine fan events, but one such event turned ugly after a French car displaying the French flag ran over a young person from Morocco.

Without mentioning either the identity nor age of the victim, the Herault prefecture in France’s Montpellier wrote a brief note about the “violent” hit-and-run event.

“A young boy was violently hit [on] Wednesday evening in Montpellier by a driver after the semi-final match of the football World Cup. He was transferred to the hospital in absolute emergency, where he died shortly after medical treatment. My thoughts are with his family and friends,” the prefecture wrote.

While authorities are currently displaying the atrocity as an accident, local eye witness records believe there could be some foul play at work, especially since there were riots between the two sets of fans earlier.

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqbU_0uVtro

Lars Vilks: Muhammad cartoonist killed in traffic collision

Swedish Artist Lars Vilks, who created a storm back in 2007 for sketching a picture of Prophet Muhammad’s head on a dog’s body, has died in a recent traffic accident.

Vilks, who was provided police protection to safeguard him against possible threats, died in a car collision near the southern Swedish town of Markaryd. Investigators have revealed that they suspect no signs of foul play as part of the initial investigations related to the accident.

A statement from police said it was still unclear how the collision occurred, but initially, there was nothing to suggest that anyone else was involved.

“This is being investigated like any other road accident. Because two policemen were involved, an investigation has been assigned to a special section of the prosecutor’s office,” a police spokesperson told news agency AFP, adding that there was no suspicion of foul play.

“We don’t know yet the reason why the bodyguard car was on the wrong side of the road,” he said. “But we’re talking to witnesses; we have found remnants of tires on the E4 road before the accident so we’re looking into the possibility that it could have been a tire explosion or something similar.”

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8s97exUaFE