Road safety – Mortel Scooter: a campaign to scare young people –

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Mortal Scooter: a campaign to scare young people

Road safety - Mortel Scooter: a campaign to scare young people -

With its deliberately shocking title, will the new Road Safety campaign really help to educate young scooter users about the rules of caution … or discourage them forever from using a two-wheeler? ?

"The scooter for me is a walking coffin"…"If I could give my son back his paws"…"My brain rebounded in the cranium"…"I bounced in the 3 cars opposite"…"It’s not just freedom and independence, there’s death too"…

Leading cause of road mortality among 14/17 year olds

The moped accident (50 cm3) is the leading cause of mortality and injuries (59%) on the road in the 14/17 age group. In 2008, 5,163 young moped riders aged 14 to 17 were victims of a road accident: 72 died and 5,091 were injured. In France, this tragedy primarily affects rural areas and small towns, according to a study commissioned by Road Safety and the French Federation of Insurance Companies (FFSA) and including interviews with 1,407 parents, teenage drivers and non-operators of these machines. Mopeds are 69% boys and 64% of them live in rural areas. "The scooter is primarily used in rural areas because there is no other type of transport and we know that well over half of these vehicles victims of accidents are unbridled.", explained a spokesperson for FFSA, Stephane Penet.

With sentences of this type, interspersed with more or less trashy photos and short video testimonials (forbidden to under 14s) of eight injured young people, their relatives and the medical staff who followed them, the road prevention association and the French Federation of Insurance Companies (FFSA) launched this morning in Paris the second edition of their campaign aimed at young scooter users (read).

The laudable goal is to "raise awareness again among young moped users of the risks associated with driving a moped, combat their feeling of invulnerability and confront them with reality".

In fact, with its title "" based on a deliberately violent shortcut, this campaign intended "especially boys aged 14 to 18"and"to the parents of the adolescents concerned"strangely tends to assimilate the scooter to a deadly weapon. So much so that one wonders if it is not risky, rather than empowering young people by encouraging them to be cautious and common sense, to discourage them forever to get on a motorized two-wheeler…

Mortal: "who causes death"

Mortal: adj. (1080, from the Latin mortalis). Who causes death, causes death. V. Fatal. Illness, fatal injury.

(Petit Robert, Dictionary of the French language)

When asked about this by Site, the Road Safety Authority and the FFSA believe that they "do not equate the scooter with "a lethal weapon". It turns out that we consider the practice of the moped as dangerous (the figures show it) and on the contrary seek through this campaign to alert the drivers of mopeds, their parents as well as the other users of the various dangers of this practice. The objective is not to make them feel guilty, nor to stigmatize them but rather to empower both cyclo drivers, parents and other road users.".

The road prevention also offers parents of teenagers to establish a "moral contract"rather interesting:"for example, we strongly encourage parents whose child has a cyclo to establish a moral contract with him", specifies the association to Site."In exchange for buying a moped, the teenager agrees to respect a certain number of rules. More than a series of prohibitions, entering into a moral contract with the adolescent will empower him and show him that he is trustworthy".

Let us recall all the same an obvious one: dear friend djeunz, if you pass by there, know that no, the scooter is not fatal! Nor are motorcycles, cars, trains, airplanes, shotguns, Wii consoles, or teddy bears. What can possibly prove fatal in the true sense of the word is the accident. Point bar. And when a scooter is qualified as "mortal", it is only figuratively, in djeunz language, in the admiring sense: "hey Kevin, say your scooter is too deadly !"…

BSR at points and technical control
motorized two-wheelers

At the same time as this campaign, the Prevention Routière and the FFSA are asking the public authorities to make the Road Safety Certificate (BSR) a genuine point-based driving license, with test events and a national file. The two structures also ask for the establishment of a technical control of motorized two-wheelers to prevent unclamping of mopeds "as already exists in 15 of the 27 countries of the European Community".

In addition, contrary to the received ideas widely relayed by the general media, the government and victims’ associations, the accident is not inevitable: we can perfectly, if not totally control them, at least considerably minimize the risks with a few rules of caution and common sense: be vigilant at all times, watch what is happening in front, behind and to the sides, flash, anticipate, plan for untimely opening of doors and other sudden dislocations, slow down before driving cross an intersection even when the light is green, wear (correctly) a (real) helmet, protect yourself with real clothes and shoes, ride on a vehicle in good working order (braking, lighting, tires …) , adapt your speed to exterior (traffic, weather, pavement, etc.) and interior (fatigue, stress, illness, etc.) conditions, etc..

In summary, then, my dear friend, it is a question of behaving like the invisible man himself as soon as you buckle your helmet and start your scooter: no one sees you, so it’s up to you to pay attention to everything . So yes the scooter is risky, yes driving a two-wheeler can be dangerous, but no the scooter is not deadly … Good and long road !

Eric MICHEL

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