Reckless drivers eye presidential pardon

A traffic jam forms after heavy snowfall on the Nantes' ringroad, France in this January 28, 2006 file photo. French motorists may be driving more recklessly than usual because they are counting on the traditional pardon by the incoming president after the election in May, the transport minister said.

PARIS Feb 7 (Reuters Life!) - French motorists may be driving more recklessly than usual because they are counting on the traditional pardon by the incoming president after the election in May, the transport minister said.

Statistics to be released by the transport ministry on Wednesday show a 13.9 percent rise in deaths on the roads in January, with 394 victims, the daily Le Parisien reported, after an 11.6 percent drop in fatalities in 2006.

France has a reputation of producing some of the most cavalier drivers in Europe but a concerted push by the government has seen a 43 percent drop in road deaths since 2002.

The surge in fatalities in January has raised concern that drivers are counting on having traffic offences wiped off when the new president takes office in May, Transport Minister Dominique Perben said.

"I hope that's not what it is but it is probable that the vagueness which remains as far as the prospects of an amnesty are concerned may be involved," he told Le Parisien.

"That is why I am repeating my request to all candidates in the presidential election," he said. "I hope they all ... come out clearly against any form of clemency and do not promise an amnesty on traffic offences," he said.

Motorists are unlikely to get away with traffic offences after this year's election.

Conservative presidential frontrunner Nicolas Sarkozy and centrist candidate Francois Bayrou have both come out against an amnesty. Far-right leader Jean Marie Le Pen says he favors a pardon for minor infractions while Socialist Segolene Royal has not yet made her position clear.

Until 1995, incoming presidents routinely offered pardons for traffic violations ranging from parking fines to more serious offences but the practice was cut back by Jacques Chirac when he assumed office for the second time in 2002.