Facts
On 6 February 1998, X., holder of a driver's license since 1973, was checked by the cantonal police in Châtel-St-Denis in a state of intoxication, with an average blood alcohol level of 3.31 g o/oo. This is the third time X. has been checked with a high blood alcohol level, after previous withdrawals of his driver's license in 1988 and 1994 for blood alcohol levels of 3.45 g o/oo and 2.95 g o/oo respectively.
The Commission on Administrative Measures in Road Traffic of the Canton of Fribourg (CMA) pronounced a warning withdrawal for a period of eighteen months, with the mention that any new case of drunk driving would result in a security withdrawal.
The Federal Roads Office filed an administrative appeal with the Federal Court, contesting this decision and requesting the annulment of the contested decision, the referral of the case to the CMA to order a medical examination on X.'s alcohol dependence, the immediate preventive withdrawal of X.'s driver's license, and, if necessary, the maintenance of the warning withdrawal.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined the question of whether, in view of the circumstances, a warning withdrawal could be pronounced without regard to a possible security withdrawal. It considered that a warning withdrawal assumes a culpable infringement of a traffic rule compromising road safety or disturbing the public, whereas a security withdrawal is intended to protect traffic safety from incapable drivers.
The Federal Court found that X. presents more than anyone else the risk of getting behind the wheel in a state that makes him dangerous for traffic, given his history and high blood alcohol level. It therefore judged that the cantonal authority had violated federal law by not considering a security withdrawal.
The Federal…