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Charente-Maritime Starts Instant License Suspensions for Drivers Using Phones

The step extends a local crackdown now active in four departments with early figures showing fewer offenses.

Le Pas-de-Calais fait partie des quatre départements qui ont mis en place cette mesure. [KARL-JOSEF HILDENBRAND / DPA / dpa Picture-Alliance via AFP]
Un automobiliste au volant et au téléphone, le 19 juin 2019, à Thionville (Moselle).
À partir de ce vendredi 1er mai, utiliser son téléphone au volant entraînera la suspension immédiate du permis de conduire dans plusieurs départements français.
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Overview

  • Charente-Maritime, which began enforcing the rule Friday, now allows an immediate administrative ban of 15 days to six months for phone use while driving.
  • The stricter approach is in place in Landes, Pas-de-Calais, Lot-et-Garonne, and Charente-Maritime, going beyond the national €135 fine and three-point penalty while no nationwide automatic suspension exists.
  • Landes reports 350 suspensions since November 2025 with a 10% drop in detected phone-use offenses, and Pas-de-Calais counts 21 suspensions and 420 warnings since February as officials prepare tougher checks.
  • Lot-et-Garonne says suspensions are not automatic and will focus on the most dangerous situations, and the Landes prefect will review whether to tighten the policy by summer.
  • Officials justify the push with 2024 data showing distraction from phones and other tech cited in 24% of injury crashes and 419 deaths, alongside 651,792 tickets and more than 1.7 million license points removed.