This weekend was once again deadly on the department's roads. On the evening of Friday, November 8, 2024, around 9:30 p.m., in Benais, a 24-year-old young man lost his life when he left the road.
Sunday morning, in Tours, another young man who was riding a scooter was killed in a collision at the entrance to the Mirabeau bridge. These two deaths bring the number of road deaths in Indre-et-Loire to twenty-six since the start of the year. They add to a tragic toll, which, moreover, is down 30% compared to 2023.
Alongside the gendarmes, the prefect of Indre-et-Loire was represented by Aurore Cléquin, INSP trainee (formerly ENA) during an operation to control addictive behavior in Fondettes.
© Photo NR, Pascal Landré
On the law enforcement side, we are maintaining the pressure with all-out road checks on the department's roads, in the police zone as well as in the gendarmerie zone. And we make it known. Example Friday evening, at the Fondettes roundabout, below the ring road. A device with ten gendarmes was set up at two points, under the command of squadron leader Lionel Tanguy. The prefecture services are present. Testing is focused on blood alcohol level and screening for drug use.
“We notice that people relax on Fridays”
Users of the D3 entering and leaving the Fondettes area and those of the M37 ring road cannot escape the cracks. At the height of traffic, the police “target” drivers. When traffic is smooth, everyone goes through it.
“We carry out systematic alcohol and drug checks every weekend, Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. And when we can, on Friday at the end of the day too”indicates Commander Tanguy, head of the departmental road safety squadron. “We notice that people relax on Fridays, thinking they have less risk of being checked. However, at the beginning of the evening, we have people getting off work, who have had afterwork parties. »
Break habits and create doubt among drivers
The first offenders do not take long to file into the gendarmerie van where saliva samples and more in-depth alcohol tests are taken. The tow truck is required to remove a car and take it to the impound lot. “We must break habits and create doubt by being present at all hours, notes Commander Tanguy, if we only carried out checks between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., people would adapt their movements accordingly. »
The check which began an hour and a half ago has just been reported on the Waze application. “It's not a problem, the goal is to avoid accidents as much as possible, so if it can encourage someone who has had a little to drink not to get behind the wheel, that's a win”observes the officer.
“We can see if anyone has a pasty mouth…”
A gendarme details the procedure: “We make initial contact with the driver, we ask for the papers, the driving license. In the exchange, we see if someone has a pasty mouth, shiny eyes…”
A driver in his thirties is taken to the police van. He has just tested positive for cocaine but claims not to use it. The gendarmes offer to take him to the hospital for a blood test which will have expert value, with two samples, which he accepts, leaving his car on the side of the road.
Alcohol and drugs involved in a third of fatal accidents
Driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs is the cause of a third of deaths on the department's roads. Commander Tanguy specifies that “the leading cause of death on the roads, in the gendarmerie zone, is the refusal of priority. Second comes alcohol and third is inattention, due to distractors, such as cell phone use. It is the cause of accidents which has increased the most for several years. »
Two blood alcohol tests and a positive drug test
In four hours, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., the police noted that evening three cases of driving under the influence of alcohol, one under the influence of narcotics, two with lack of driving license. And several other traffic violations were noted, including failure to wear a seat belt, insurance or technical inspection defects. Two vehicles were impounded.
