Since spring 2024, wild runs have been spreading all over the metropolis of Orléans. Hundreds of spectators put themselves in danger during these illegal gatherings. But the phenomenon has so far escaped the authorities.
Covid had put a stop to the “runs” in the Orléans metropolitan area. But it has resumed in full force since spring 2024, confirms the Loiret national police. Which, to date, has not managed to stem these illegal and dangerous gatherings.
Several areas popular with enthusiasts in recent months have been identified (La Batardière in Ingré because it has no speed bumps, the ZAC des Chèvres-Noires in Olivet, etc.)
However, the authorities have never called it a day. A senior police officer agrees: “The phenomenon of “runs” is difficult to contain.”
Static gatherings remain “good-natured”
“Static” gatherings like the one in Saint-Jean-de-la-Ruelle are “easier to manage”: the vehicles remain parked, and the atmosphere is “good-natured”, observes a police officer mobilized that evening.
Immersion in the heart of the “wild runs” near Orléans, a place of all excesses and dangers
The police are paying attention to the noise pollution caused by vehicles, but also to the equipment – sometimes not approved – with which they have been customized.
But what about more dangerous gatherings like the one in Olivet? No patrol came to put an end to the one organized on Friday evening, September 6. The police claim to have been there, but around 11 p.m., well before the biggest part of the “festivities”.
Police understaffing
These wild runs, where participants and the public clearly put themselves in danger, also put the police to the test. They are more “confidential, volatile, the organizers change location, you have to be able to anticipate.”
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And above all, it is necessary to be able to “mobilise a significant number of patrols”, sometimes at the last minute, while the trend is rather towards understaffing in the police ranks, as the unions of the profession have been regularly warning for years.
In the meantime, wild runs are thriving in the Orleans area.
Sarah Bourletias
