Interview with Pierre Chasseray, Managing Director of "40 millions d’automobilistes"
A new episode in our series of interviews with our partners. Today, Pierre Chasseray, Managing Director of the 40 million association, takes us behind the scenes of his collaboration with Develter Innovation.
What is your association’s commitment?
40 millions d’automobilistes is the only association in France recognised as being in the public interest to defend motorists. Our main objective is to improve road safety, not by coercion, but by adopting positive measures that are accepted by all.
How did you meet Stéphane Develter, founder of Develter Innovation?
My relationship with Stéphane is based on deep admiration and a beautiful friendship. We met in 2012 at the Paris Motor Show. I discovered his simulator and was immediately struck by its realism and its ability to faithfully reproduce the most common accident situations in France.
These accidents, often caused by unintentional failure to give way or blind spots, are rarely highlighted. That’s how our collaboration began. Since then, we have fought many battles together to have his simulator recognised and incorporated into driving training courses.
What progress have you made together?
We managed to get the attention of the interdepartmental delegates for road safety and the Minister of the Interior, and finally to obtain official recognition of the simulator in driving school training. It was a real victory!
This recognition required a great deal of work to raise awareness and demonstrate the simulator’s effectiveness. We organised tests with training professionals, road safety experts and even representatives of public institutions. The aim was to prove that this tool enabled drivers to be better prepared, in particular by exposing them to dangerous situations that would be impossible to reproduce in real-life conditions. Thanks to these efforts, the simulator has been integrated into several training centres, marking a major step forward for road safety and safe driving lessons.
What are the most innovative aspects of this simulator?
One of the latest innovations is eye tracking. The idea came from a discussion we were having about the impact of using the telephone at the wheel. Develter Innovation has succeeded in developing a system that measures inattention by analysing the driver’s eye movements. This is a revolutionary tool for assessing and preventing dangerous behaviour.
What are your next initiatives with Develter Innovation?
We have several projects underway. In February, we are launching a campaign on the effects of fatigue at the wheel, followed by an in-depth study of smartphone use at the wheel and its consequences.
We also plan to go even further in officially recognising driving simulators and proving their superiority to traditional methods.
Do you have an anecdote to share about Stéphane or your collaboration?
Yes, there was one story that particularly struck me. Stéphane helped a young man regain his mobility and driving skills after a serious accident. Initially, he did this without telling anyone, simply out of kindness. He spent hours working with this boy, without looking for recognition. Today, this man has started a family and leads a normal life. This story perfectly illustrates Stéphane’s human dimension, which goes far beyond technological innovation.
Would you like to say a final word?
If every French person could spend an hour on one of Develter Innovation’s simulators, it would change their driving forever. It makes the invisible visible and offers learning that saves lives. It’s a real revolution in road safety!