On Friday, the magazine referred to a case involving a German driver who had a medical emergency while transporting a load in the Lyon region.
The driver reportedly felt severe stomach pain and urgently needed medical attention. It is said that the trucker had enough strength to call his boss in Germany, who in turn reached out to a French speaker who could call for help.
However, the emergency services replied that they would not be able to intervene until they were accompanied by an interpreter. This resulted in a 40-minute delay in the departure of the ambulance.
The driver was eventually taken to hospital, where he underwent emergency stomach surgery.
The incident has nonetheless caused concern about what similar delays could mean for other international drivers who need emergency medical assistance while on France’s roads.
Les Routiers asked its readers: “If he had died for lack of immediate help, who would be responsible?”.
The situation was also referred to in the Romanian media over the weekend, with one news website stating Romanian drivers have repeatedly complained about not being able to draw on the help of France’s emergency services due to a lack of French comprehension.
Photo: Alf van Beem, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (image cropped and used for illustrative purposes only)
