This Thursday, January 9, 2025 in the evening, his police custody is extended for aggravated injuries, hit-and-run and failure to provide assistance in danger. The infant, struck while he was in his stroller, pushed by his mother in Avion (Pas-de-Calais), is still between life and death.
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A dramatic accident and consequences which could be irreversible. Wednesday January 8, 2025, a 14-year-old young man driving an unlicensed car hit a mother and her 8-month-old baby in her stroller, on a pedestrian crossing in Avion, before fleeing. The infant, seriously injured, was transported as an absolute emergency to the Lille hospital center. Victim of head trauma, his vital prognosis is in jeopardy this evening.
Arrested the day after the accident by police officers from the Lens police station at his home in Avion, the driver was taken into custody for aggravated injuries, hit-and-run and failure to assist a person in danger. His passenger was released this Thursday, January 9, 2025 at the end of the afternoon. Aged 15, she is at this stage being prosecuted for failure to assist a person in danger.
Illustrative image of a Citroën brand “AMI” car without a license.
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© SERGE ATTAL / ONLY FRANCE
The minor was driving a Citroën Ami, a small license-free car put on the market in 2020. The 100% electric model can be purchased from 8,000 euros, or rented by paying an initial rent then a monthly fee. “Due to its maximum speed (45 km/h), Ami can be driven without a driving license from the age of 14”indicates the car manufacturer. To drive the cart measuring 2m41 long, 1m39 wide and 1m52 high, However, people born after 1988 must hold a moped license – or AM license – replacing the BSR abandoned in 2013.
To obtain it, you must hold ASSR 1 and ASSR 2, certificates validated at college. You must then follow practical training provided in approved establishments such as driving schools or associations. The training, lasting a minimum of 8 hours, includes:
- An exchange with the student on road safety,
- A review of basic knowledge of the highway code,
- Raising awareness of road risks in the presence of a parent,
- 1 hour minimum of driving outside traffic,
- Minimum 3 hours of driving on roads open to traffic.
Once the theoretical and practical training is completed, no exams are required. It is the trainer who issues a certificate to the student who can then drive.
Did the teenager driving the vehicle during the plane accident hold an AM license? How long ago? Elements that the investigation will have to determine. This Friday, January 10, 2025, the 14-year-old driver should be presented to a judge.
A drama, which provokes numerous reactions on social networks: “14 year old children have nothing to do in a car other than in the passenger seat”an Internet user is indignant. “We must ban cars without a license, some people think they are Porsche drivers”adds another. However, driving a car without a license with an AM license at the age of 14 is legal.
But beyond legality, the question of responsibility arises in the light of a dramatic accident like that of Airplane. We questioned the spokesperson for the 40 million motorists association. “I have no words for the victim and his mother”regrets in the preamble Pierre Chasseray, who evokes a “despicable drama” caused by “a 14 year old kid”.
I know my statistics, the accidents, I know that carts are involved in accidents, that two-wheelers represent 2.7% of users and 25% of deaths… Inevitably when we have access to statistics, we are inevitably a little more cooled.
Pierre Chasseray, spokesperson for the 40 million motorists association
However, he did not “never put (his/her) children behind the wheel of a scooter or a cart at 14”. He explains: “jI do not have a negative opinion on parents who choose to leave their children alone behind the wheel of a car, I am not here to give them education lessons, but it seems to me that at 14 years old , we are not capable of taking responsibility for the seriousness of such an accident.” Pierre Chasseray recalls that a car “is not a weapon”, more “Error entails adult responsibility”. Not a child’s responsibility.
