Association Antoine Alléno and City of Nice, partners against road crime
The City of Nice has signed a partnership agreement with the Association Antoine Alléno non-profit, set up by Yannick Alleno after the death of his son Antoine © Ville de Nice / Christian Estrosi
The Mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, is taking decisive measures to stem the dramatic increase in road killings. A partnership agreement with the Association Antoine Alléno, founded by chef Yannick Alléno following the death of his son Antoine, was signed on Friday 13 September. Its aim is to promote road safety, support victims and implement concrete solutions in the region.
Antoine Alléno, Jérémie Boulon, Éric Comyn, Rachid Djeloul… All these names tell tragic stories of lives taken by irresponsible drivers, turning the road into a theatre of violence and crime. These tragedies leave families devastated, as in the poignant account given by Nicolas, whose brother Jérémie Boulon, a fireman from Nice, was fatally injured on his scooter by a car that ran a red light in June.
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“My brother was mown down by a car on the Promenade des Anglais. His body was thrown 60 metres, and the scooter came to a stop 80 metres away. Two and a half months after his death, no one from the justice system has contacted us. We are alone with our pain and a sense of injustice.
The handling of these cases, from a judicial point of view and in terms of consideration for the famiies, is beyond catastrophic. In my brother’s case, there are multiple aggravating circumstances and yet the culprit was released on derisory terms. When you just need to wait 15 days and then you can go on holiday, there’s no restriction in that.
The public prosecutor’s office didn’t even appeal, even though it is supposed to be representing us. Added to the pain of our loss , and the absence, is a sense of disdain towards us. We feel like our victims are treated like a dog that’s been run over, but we’re talking about human beings.
So we’re fighting two battles: the first is to make sure families are given due consideration in these homicide cases, and the second is this sense of injustice. Unintentional accidents can unfortunately happen, but with so many offences: running a red light, driving at over 120 kph instead of 50, taking nitrous oxide, hit-and-run, what does it take to get sent to prison?” he says.
These testimonies, full of both sadness and outrage, reflect an alarming reality: every day, two young people under the age of 24 lose their lives on French roads. Last year, the figures were shocking: 718 deaths. Antoine Alléno’s father expresses the pain of a loss he cannot forget:
“When a child passes away, he leaves behind at least five people in unspeakable pain. That’s 3,500 people a year who suffer for the rest of their lives. When these young people pass on, they sometimes have brothers and sisters, they might be in a relationship. Nobody goes to see these kids’ loved ones. And yet they’re suffering. A lot of these kids drop out of school and the parents are totally bereft.”
“We got a life sentence”
On Friday 13 September, the non-profit organisation invited the victims’ families to take part in “ALIVE”, a collective artwork by the artist JR, a collage of 3,000 portraits on the Pont de l’Alma bridge in Paris. The commemorative fresco, symbolising the memory of the young people killed on the roads and the struggle of the co-victims, is a key project for the Association Antoine Alléno. It will give the families an opportunity to pay their respects, but also to denounce a society that, all too often, forgets the victims of these road tragedies.
Outside of the courts, the victims’ families are also fighting a human battle. Jennifer, Jérémie Boulon’s widow, expresses the ongoing suffering of her loved ones: “This work of art will show that we are still here. We all got a life sentence. It’s going to be a lifelong battle.”
A national emergency
Yannick Alléno’s testimony was particularly moving. He pointed out that in addition to their bereavement, almost all of the families are faced with unbearable “administrative violence”:
“Just yesterday I met a family, his name was Antoine too, and he passed away a month before mine, two years ago. Today, the family still hasn’t seen the examining magistrate. I can also tell you about Margot’s parents. It took three weeks for them to recover their child’s body from the morgue. She had been hit by a car on the Pont-Neuf on a Sunday evening, like Antoine. We must respect the families’ memory and do what it takes to treat this with a great deal of humanity.“
The non-profit’s president also believes it is crucial that carmakers and start-ups commit to looking for innovative solutions to cut down the number of fatal accidents. At the forthcoming VivaTech show, the Association Antoine Alléno hopes to see the emergence of new technologies that will enable vehicles to be stopped remotely, a breakthrough that could save lives:
“I’ve already seen some great projects with ideas that nobody had thought of so far. Carmakers are doing a remarkable job in terms of on-board safety, but now it’s time to look at safety around vehicles.”
Nice, a pioneer in the fight against road homicide
Led by the Association Antoine Alléno and the City of Nice, an ambitious three-pronged plan has just been launched: improving road safety, improving support for victims and implementing new prevention tools across the region.
Christian Estrosi, Mayor of Nice, doesn’t mask his exasperation at the inaction of the national authorities: “I have asked the Prefecture to install speed cameras seven times since 2022, with no reply. This has gone on far too long. The City of Nice is therefore going to install them itself. It will then be up to the Prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes to connect them to the Ministry of the Interior network.
I am calling on the government to tackle this scourge head-on. We need to make this the great national cause, at the end of the five-year term.
The mayor’s objective is clear: for Nice to become France’s leading large town in the fight against road violence. Yannick Alléno also supports a law on road homicide, hoping for it to be voted quickly by French parliament.
“We are hopeful that things will change and that the road homicide law will finally be passed. Fortunately, the Prime Minister reminded us that this is a topic that will be voted on soon in the National Assembly.
Just think, refusing to comply was not an aggravating circumstance, when there are 27,000 of them every year in France. Every 20 minutes someone refuses to comply with the authority of the State. There was another tragedy last night, it’s a real emergency.”
The partnership between the City of Nice and the Association Antoine Alléno is another step towards raising national awareness. The challenge is to involve all parts of society so that these tragedies cease to be mere news items. Yannick Alléno concluded the day with a message of hope, calling for widespread mobilisation.
About the Association Antoine Alléno
The Association Antoine Alléno was founded in September 2022 following the tragic death of Antoine Alléno, who was killed at the age of 24 by a hit-and-run driver. In the face of the terrible tragedy, his family chose to turn their pain into strength to prevent these acts, and help victims under the age of 25 and their families.
Today, the charity carries out concrete actions to raise awareness on road safety and support those who live with the unbearable absence of a loved one.