Record ban for young driver

A young driver lost his licence minutes after receiving it, with gendarmes in Normandy banning him from driving after he was given a drugs test.

The man had been driving to his driving school at Pont-Audemer in Eure to pick up his new licence when he was stopped by gendarmes who called his behaviour “bizarre” and said “he had not seemed in a normal state”.

A breath test proved negative so he was asked to do a drugs test. He told the gendarmes he was on his way to the driving school and they let him walk to the test centre. While he was away the drug test came back positive and the gendarmes promptly suspended his licence as he was picking it up and then took it off him when he returned for the result.

The Gendarmerie Nationale highlighted the case on its Facebook page, headlining it ‘Carton Rouge’ Red Card and saying that “hours of driving, a large amount of money paid, a stressful driving test” had all been thrown away.

Drink driving is punishable by the loss of six points from the licence or a ban for young drivers plus a possible two years in jail and €4,500 in fines.