Families of Road Accident Victims Demand Justice and Change in Bordeaux

In front of the Saint-André cathedral in Bordeaux this Saturday, May 13, 2023, a gigantic table had been erected, extended over several meters in length. But the black color of its long tablecloth, covered with 86 plates, let guess that the guests would not come: they were all killed in car accidents.

Their families, members of the Justice for Road Victims collective, came together to make their voices heard. Laurence Papon-Fournier is one of the mothers who came to say. Say the pain of losing your child first, and anger also, faced with justice who will not be “never up to par”.

Because many of the people gathered at Place Pey Berland lost a loved one in an accident caused by a speeding driver. at high speed and under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.

Like the other families present, Laurence came to bring the common demands to the members of the collective. “They will never bring my son back,” she admits, but they may do justice. “Because it feels like our children are perishable goodsthat their lives do not count, ”says a mother.

“The driver will not take life, but we will”

Anthony Geonget, a judo enthusiast in sports educator training, died on January 17, 2022 as he returned from the dojo to find his companion. While driving on the ring road that day, a driver try to pass him on the right at full speed. He hits Anthony’s car, which is thrown against the pillar of a bridge. The young man died instantly.

“He was hit by a chronic driver who was under narcotics at the time of the accident and driving at high speed,” sighs Anthony’s mother. As she tells, Laurence has to pause to swallow back her tears.

“The next day at 8 a.m. the police knocked on my door and asked me to come in and sit down. His life changed that day. “It’s a real tsunami”she confides, and her daughter adds that the word seems weak to her.

There is nothing to qualify our lives since the accident. The driver won’t take life, but we do.

The 18-year-old driver will be placed six months in pre-trial detention before being released while the investigation continues. That, Anthony’s parents will learn during an appointment with the investigating judge in charge of the case. Disappointment can be read on Laurence’s face.

So Anthony’s mother needed to meet people who shared the same trauma what. Within the collective, she found the support she needed.

Corentin, broke on his 24th birthday on a pedestrian crossing

The Gironde branch of the national collective Justice for road victims was created in 2021 by Nathalie Prieto y Cosio, Corentin’s mother. He died on his 24th birthday in front of his girlfriend, mowed down by a drunk driver as he crossed on a pedestrian crossing in Bordeaux.

The driver was traveling at 80 km / h on a road limited to 50. He was 21 years old, and 1.2 grams of alcohol in his blood. Corentin, hit head-on, landed 30 meters further. He died instantly.

What is a road homicide offence?

After this tragedy, Nathalie decides to launch the Gironde branch of the collective herself to make her demands heard. “We want first to raise awareness this society on the risks of criminal behavior”, blows Corentin’s mother.

The families of the victims are also demanding the reclassification of involuntary homicides as road homicides in the case of criminal behavior while driving.

The homicide in Anthony’s case is not unintentional. These people voluntarily drink alcohol, then voluntarily drive, they know when they start that their vehicle is a weapon.

The collective also calls for a better administrative support and psychological families, minimum sentences applied and more repression. “The fact that the offender who killed my son is going to prison will not lessen my pain, concludes Laurence, but I don’t want Anthony dead for nothing. »

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