Is Thursday really the “highest number of accidents”? Attention
During a visit to the Loire on Monday, January 9, the Secretary of State for Ecology, Beranger Couillard, announced the measures of the 2023 Hunting Security Plan. The goal? “We are working towards zero accidents”. Among the measures, alcohol and drugs were banned during the hunt and an app was created to facilitate the sharing of locations. “From September 2023, hunting declarations will be mandatory,” said the Secretary of State for Ecology.
However, there is no plan to ban hunting for a day, which many NGOs have demanded. He will not register this time. But Bérengère Couillard defends herself: “Nothing says that Sunday is the most accident-prone day. Currently, without explanation, Thursday is the most accident-prone.”
However, the figures used by the Secretary of State are based on the number of deaths only, without taking into account other accidents. 20 minutes In 2020, he questioned the association “Hunter for a Day” founded by friends of Morgan Keen, who was shot by a hunter. They condemn the government’s misuse of statistics.
FAKE OFF
Last September, following a petition published by the “Un jour, un chasseur” association, the Senate requested a joint monitoring mission from the economic affairs and legal committees. The final report proposed 30 measures for hunters, such as checking their hunting license or creating an annual medical certificate.
According to the Senate report and figures from the French Biodiversity Office (OFB), “the number of hunting accidents decreased by 46% and the number of deaths by 74%”. However, this number needs to be put into perspective. Also, according to the report, “more than two-thirds of accidents occur as a result of serious malfunctions that violate basic safety rules.” In addition to this, there are about a hundred incidents every year, that is, shooting at vehicles or houses, and shooting at domestic or livestock animals, which can lead to dramatic consequences.
Different views
This is where the break between the association “Un jour, un chasseur” and the views of the government is realized. The Anti-Hunting Association uses the first graph, which looks at the number of accidents, one day of the week, combining all game. The observation in this chart is clear: almost half (46%) of hunting accidents occur on Sunday, 25% on Saturday or 71% on the weekend. According to these figures, Thursday accounts for 7% of accidents.
Conversely, to estimate that Sunday is not the most prone to accidents, Secretary of State Beranger Couillard According to data from the French Biodiversity Office (OFB), the following graph focuses on the distribution of daily non-hunter victims.
Small differences
“Contrary to what you might think, we do not find this overrepresentation in accidents involving non-hunters, and it is spread throughout the week with an unnoticeable peak on Wednesdays or weekends. These statistics do not support demands to stop hunting during these periods,” the report states.
According to these figures, in fact, no great difference should be observed between different hunting days. Thursday remains the most accident-prone day with 13% of accidents, followed closely by Monday, Wednesday and Sunday (12% each). However, given the small differences between days, it is unclear whether these figures are used to demonstrate a higher rate of accidents.
Injuries are not considered
He gave an interview for the association “Un jour, un chasseur”. 20 minutes, the use of this graphic is not legal. “These numbers are ridiculous. It only applies to dead non-hunters,” the organization says indignantly. But not only those who died, but also those who were injured. “There are cases of violation of private property, endangering the lives of others, non-compliance with safety rules, killing of pets,” the association adds.
For several months, the collective has been working on another methodology to count the number of accidents. The interviewed volunteer explains: “As soon as an article in the press reports about an accident, we count and classify the facts.” “Accidents happen mostly on Sundays,” he said in his opinion to the press. So the association asked (and still asks) for two days, Wednesday and Sunday, to ban hunting.
“The best way to mess up the country”
However, the association “Un jour, un chasseur” is not the only organization fighting for the adoption of this measure. Close 20 minutes, Wildlife Protection Association (Aspas) spokesman Richard Holding agreed with the same conclusion: hunting on Sundays should be banned. “Half of the recorded hunting accidents happen on this day.”
On the contrary, for Willy Schraen, president of the National Federation of Hunters (FNC), solving this ban is out of the question. “I don’t want to hear about stopping hunting on Sundays, or even testing it in areas. That would be the best way to mess up the country,” he growled into our microphone.
