RTL's editorial team was recently contacted by a man who was frustrated about waiting times at the Driver Training Centre (CFC) in Colmar-Berg.
The caller explained that he urgently needed to take the course to recover three points on his driving license. He had just lost four for using his cell phone while driving, and as it wasn't the first time, he had to do something about it. Unfortunately, his plan wouldn't advance as quickly as hoped; he'll have to wait five months, he was told.
"Yes, five months, or rather four now,” confirms Eric Mathias, Director of the CFC. In 2024, the centre organised around 60 courses at its Colmar-Berg site, attended by 600 people. That's double the number from the previous year, and one of the reasons for this high demand is indeed the four-point deduction for using the phone while driving, according to the CFC director.
“We always make a chart during the course, where we look at who has lost how many points and for what offence, and of course the cell phone very often appears on it.”
There are a few other classics on this board:
“Speed, alcohol, and what we've also been seeing a lot of lately are papers that weren't in order. The police check this a little more intensively now, as they have the technical means to examine this very quickly which was perhaps not the case before. Today, through the license plate, the police can tell that a vehicle's papers are not in order, and the car will be immediately stopped.”
Speed, alcohol, and distracted driving are the three main causes of serious accidents, which is why Eric Mathias insists on the importance of understanding the message when points are withdrawn.
“It's something like a yellow card that you receive and with which you're urged to change your behaviour. This means that you don't need to come to us at all if you've understood why you've been given this yellow card, encouraging you to drive more slowly or not touch your cell phone anymore. In that case, you'll automatically get those points back after three years.”
Provided you're not caught again, for example, making a phone call without a hands-free kit, or writing a quick text message at a red light.
If your points balance is at an all-time low, it's not a bad idea to go through Colmar-Berg to recover three points, of course, but above all to have the consequences of this behaviour explained to you.
It's up to each individual to decide if and when to take the CFC course, but it's important to bear in mind that you can't be accepted overnight. Eric Mathias doesn't see any need to change that.
“Our message is that if the legislator increases the penalty in terms of points, it's not up to us to give more courses to compensate for this. We'd gain nothing from this. We need to get the message across that distracted driving by telephone is very serious.”
A driver can only take the course that will allow him to recover three points on his license once every three years. This means that if he doesn't change his driving behaviour after the course, the three bonus points will be gone in an instant.
