8:15 a.m., this Thursday, November 21, in the parking lot of the Jean-Racine college in Saint-Georges-sur-Loire (Maine-et-Loire). Young people are rushing to get back to the warmth. Temperatures close to zero dissuaded scooter riders in favor of buses and parents' cars. Only a few cyclists braved the cold.
“We make sure they have their lights, the helmet, the reflective vest…” lists Damien, gendarme of the departmental road safety squadron. With his colleague Lola, they check the cyclists arriving at the school. “We mainly do prevention but for this type of offense, the fines can go up to €135. »
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In this college, many of them are adopting new forms of mobility. “We have between forty and fifty bikes per day in the parking lot, and a few scooters and scooters, specifies Philippe Munoz, the principal. They must be clearly visible and protected. »
“Our workhorse”
Overall, that morning, everyone was equipped with helmets and the bikes were fairly new and well lit. “It is often the chasuble that is missing, specifies the gendarme. He, for example, has no helmet and is dressed all in black. He forgot his equipment. »
The young man will not be fined, but only reminded of order. “We hammer home the message, it has to fit, explains the policeman. There are a lot of cycle and scooter accidents, this is our hobby horse. »
Already fifteen days earlier, the gendarmes had deployed a similar device in front of several colleges in Maine-et-Loire. These young people without lights are particularly vulnerable on country roads. At the end of October, a 16-year-old girl died, struck while riding a scooter without lights in Mûrs-Érigné.
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