This is going to come across as a bit of an emotional outburst, and it should. Also, it's probably one that more than a few of you reading this can unfortunately relate to. If you have, or you know someone who's ever been involved in a road incident with drivers that either aren't paying attention, are driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or are road raging in your general direction, then some part of you will likely resonate with a change the French government is about to make.
For the past couple of years, a bill has been moving through the French legislature that would reclassify road deaths that meet certain criteria as "road homicides." Previously, they'd been known by the fairly bloodless and faintly awful phrase "involuntary manslaughter."
Why do I characterize it as being 'faintly awful?' Because it's about as effective a descriptor as every terrible, tortured, passive-voice headline you've ever seen. You know, phrasing like "A Bullet Went Through The Head Of A 12-Year-Old Child," where the concentration is on the bullet and the 12-year-old, but whoever wrote the piece doesn't want to talk about who shot it, nor why. Maybe it'll be brought up in passing in the article that follows the headline, but not always. It's offensive on a journalistic level, and it's also terrible writing. Zero stars.
In July 2025, the French Senate took its final vote in favor of making the change. Road Homicide will be the new name; putting clear, concise, language front and center as regards certain types of road deaths.
What kinds of deaths are we talking about, exactly? In cases where a road fatality is the result of a driver ignoring safety measures, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, doing a hit-and-run, speeding over 30 km/h above the speed limit, driving on the phone, and additional similar risky behaviors, the charge will now be 'road homicide.'
Words have meanings, and this is a meaningful phrase; particularly for the friends, family, and loved ones who have to go on in the world without the person or people they've lost to any 'road homicide.' Additionally, the driver's license of any drivers found guilty of 'road homicide' will be retained pending a medical examination, to be performed at their expense.
What do you think, should more legislators in other places follow France's lead? Should stiffer penalties be assigned to road users who kill someone with their vehicle? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
