Pierre Palmade in prison: the case, starting point of a revolution ? This pious wish that would delight Yannick Alléno

Since the terrible accident he caused in February 2023, the Pierre Palmade case has not stopped making people talk. But beyond the fate of the comedian, it is the question of traffic offenses and their punishment that has come back to the forefront. A problem that is particularly relevant to heart to chef Yannick Alléno since the tragic death of his son.

© Christophe Clovis/Bestimage Pierre Palmade was sentenced to five years in prison, two of which are firm.

IN BRIEF

• On May 8, 2022, Antoine Alléno, son of chef Yannick Alléno, was killed in Paris by a hit-and-run driver at 120 km/h.
• Yannick Alléno campaigns for a road homicide offense, a failed project but revived by the Palmade affair.
• The creation of a road homicide offense could symbolically reinforce social disapproval of road traffic offenses.

On May 8, 2022, the world of gastronomy is in mourning. Antoine Alléno, 24, son of the famous multi-starred chef, was fatally hit at Paris by a reckless driver who was driving at 120 km/h. A heartbreaking loss for Yannick Alléno who, since then, has continued to demand a tougher law against those who commit road offences.

A father's fight so that “Antoine's death is not in vain”

“What I hope is that Antoine's death is not in vain. Things have to change“, the leader insists in an interview with BFMTV in June 2022. For him, it is imperative to create a road homicide offense, a measure that was about to enter the Penal Code in February 2024 before being buried by the dissolution of the Assembly in June.

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A bill that was aborted but that the Palmade affair, through its media coverage, could well put back on track. Because since the terrible accident provoked by the comedian in February 2023 under the influence of drugs, the question of punishing reckless drivers has returned to the heart of the debate.

Pierre Palmade in prison: a historic verdict ?

Tried in November 2024, Pierre Palmade received a prison sentence for involuntary manslaughter and injury. A verdict which, according to the barrister Me François Paquet-Cauet “will clearly have a dissuasive effect for those who can still think and control their drug use“.

It should also be noted that the Palmade case is part of a context of hardening public opinion with regard to traffic offences. “Today, the public no longer accepts these behaviors. We are on a zero tolerance”, emphasizes Me Paquet-Cauet.

Road homicide: a qualification primarily symbolic ?

But concretely, what would change the creation of a road homicide offense, as Yannick Alléno demands ? For the barrister, the difference would be mainly semantic: “What is changing is the vocabulary: to symbolically mark social disapproval, the term 'involuntary' is removed. From there to saying that the driver at fault wanted the death of a person, there is a difficult legal step to take.”

But for the families of victims like Yannick Alléno, this “involuntary” qualification remains difficult to understand. “The taking of drugs or the driving fault was done intentionally. These deaths remain an absolute tragedy“, recalls Me Paquet-Cauet.