Bagnols-sur-Cèze: “We will never be happy again”, the fight of Adrien Couffin’s family for road victims

Tribute to the fifty-five victims of the Gard road in 2023. The family of Adrien Couffin also evokes all the forgotten victims: those seriously injured during these accidents. C. C. – Midi Libre

Place Jean-Jaurès, this Saturday. Adrien Couffin's family meets the population to raise awareness of the demands of the Justice for Road Victims collective. C. C. – Midi Libre

This Saturday, May 11, she paid tribute to the 55 road victims who died in Gard in 2023. The family of Adrien Couffin, who died in 2022, raised public awareness on behalf of the Justice for Victims collective of the road. "We got a life sentence. We will continue to raise the voice of the victims by all means,” testify Adrien’s parents.

They will never again sit at the table, the 55 people who died on the roads of Gard in 2023. It is the shocking image and the tribute to the victims that the family of Adrien Couffin, deceased in October 2022 in a car accident, created by setting up this table, place Jean-Jaurès, in Bagnols, this Saturday all day. An action that Adrien’s loved ones, his parents Évelyne and Bernard Couffin and his wife Marion, already carried out last year, supported by the municipality. To raise awareness and support the fight of the Justice for Road Victims collective, for which they will create a Gard branch in January  2025.

Benevolence and compassion from the public

Adrien's family was able to interact with many passers-by who were intrigued by the staging and the posters. The public, who showed their support, kindness and compassion, were able to test glasses which simulate the state of a human who has consumed alcohol, drugs or who is very tired. Many looked at the photo wall, "many of the victims are young. There are children. This traumatizes them", testifies Bernard Couffin. "Adrien fought against all forms of racism and discrimination. He was a staunch union activist. We fight, in our own way, for him. We would like things to change and for the date of May 16 to be officially recognized as National Road Victims Day, confides his mother. The fight of the victims' families also concerns the reclassification of the homicide as road homicide, and not involuntary homicide, when a fatal accident involves a driver who was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. rsquo;alcohol. The bill creating road homicide and aiming to combat road violence, after a first round trip between the National Assembly and the Senate, "must be re-examined at the National Assembly at the end of May. This must not be an empty announcement…".

Letters from thousands of families to the President and ministers without response

Last year, the Couffin family and thousands of families of victims wrote to the President of the Republic and the Ministers of the Interior and Justice. None received a response. They will repeat this year. "Everyone tells their story and asks for the creation of this national day." "Penal policy will not move forward not if justice does not evolve. And that justice be applied, which is not always the case", adds Bernard Couffin, who also mentions all the victims including & ;quot;we don't talk" : the injured, the people who have become disabled. Another injustice: "We have no psychological support provided, discovered in this tragedy Évelyne. Even though we know that whoever killed our son has support. If we want to see a psychologist, it's on our own." For all these reasons, the Couffin family will continue " all means, to raise our voice". Because’"we took life sentence. We will never be happy again. We know it’s over. Everything was shattered in a matter of seconds. "Every morning, it’s hard to get up. The nightmare is during the day, not at night."