Morbihan
Published on November 20, 2024
Too much is enough. In recent months, the number of accidents has increased sharply in Morbihan. All the indicators are red because in addition to the number of accidents, the number of deaths on the roads is also on the rise. An increase that cabinet director Ronan Lepage estimates at 10%. Since the start of the year, 42 people have died on the roads of Morbihan. During the weekends of November 10 and 16 alone, two people died, including a pregnant woman in Brech.
The prefecture is therefore announcing a serious turn of the screw. This Wednesday afternoon, a reinforced check was organized at the Catry roundabout in Saint-Avé. No less than 17 gendarmes from the road safety squadron, from the Vannes company with the reinforcement of a dog team from Rennes, specialized in the search for narcotics, weapons, ammunition, tickets carried out controls. And in the middle of the afternoon, they intercepted a young couple who tested positive for narcotics. The sanction was immediate: in addition to the procedure, the car was immediately impounded.
And this example illustrates the concerns of the prefecture and the police. Because if alcohol remains by far the main cause of accidents – it is at the origin of the last 2 fatal accidents recorded in Morbihan – and leads to half of the license suspensions, narcotics are increasingly present especially as they are increasingly combined with alcohol and excessive speed. You should know that the average blood alcohol level of the perpetrators of fatal accidents in Morbihan is 1.69g/l of blood! An explosive cocktail that the authorities are determined to stop.
“I came to say about this control in the name of the prefect that we are going to strengthen the controls in view of these figures”, confirms Ronan Lepage who calls for awareness. “I came to send a double message, a message of responsibility and a message of firmness.” The checks which will multiply target dangerous behavior and are an opportunity for the gendarmes to take preventive action against other acts of delinquency such as burglaries. The chief of staff recalls that being controlled under the influence of alcohol or drugs results in the application of the heaviest penalty which can be up to 6 months of license suspension.
This Wednesday afternoon, in Saint-Avé, 48 vehicles were checked with the result of driving under drugs, two fixed fines for drug offences, failure to wear a passenger seat belt, overloading and a ban on presence in the Morbihan department. .
Listen in our video to the explanations of the chief of staff and Colonel Ardillier, commander of the Morbihan gendarmerie group.
Who are the victims?
Of the 41 killed as of November 15, 2024, 31 are men (75.6%) and 10 women (24.4%)
All age groups are affected but we see, in 2024, a significant number of
people killed aged 75 and over (29%).
For the record, the use of a light vehicle (VL) or utility vehicle (UV) still accounts for the majority of
killed, or 58.5% in 2024. Vulnerable users (pedestrians, cyclists, motorized two-wheelers) represent
41% of those killed.
Sanctions
