With 27 deaths in Orne, 2024 will remain a dark year on the road

On November 19, 2024, a head-on collision killed one person in Warmer (Orne). On December 12, a 7-year-old girl was hit by a bus in Flers. She died from her injuries. On December 13, a man lost his life in Crulai in an accident with a utility vehicle.

On December 18 in Sarceaux, near Argentan, a 30-year-old young woman died after leaving the road. On December 27, 2024 between Tourouvre and Longny-au-Perche, another frontal collision caused the death of a 68-year-old man, former elected official of the commune of Auteuil (today Tourouvre-au-Perche).

Finally, the Friday January 3, 2025Florine Tessier, 30 years old, and Murielle Cannée, 60 years old, were swept away in a dramatic head-on collision, yet another, in La Chapelle-Viel, between Mortagne-au-Perche and L’Aigle.

Unfavorable weather

Listing these tragedies is painful. However, it testifies to the worrying situation on the roads of Orne in this winter of 2024-2025 which will undoubtedly be one of the deadliest in recent years. Law of series, difficult weather conditions, with lots of fog, or reckless driving?

The explanation undoubtedly lies in the middle of all these hypotheses. Whatever the case, these tragedies have deeply marked people's minds, particularly in Perche where three people lost their lives in eight days, only a few kilometers away.

According to Prefect Sébastien Jallet, the “trend is worrying”. The year 2024 was particularly deadly on the roads of Orne with 27 deaths recorded, compared to 21 in 2023.

“We are returning to pre-Covid levels”

During his tour of the emergency services mobilized during New Year's Eve, the prefect of Orne took stock of road safety in the department for 2024. And the numbers are not good.

“Unfortunately, we are back to pre-Covid levels, located between 25 and 30 deaths,” notes the state representative.

The number of traffic accidents remains “stable” but they have led to more deaths and serious injuries.*

Too often, accidents are linked to behavioral problems: drunk driving, drug use, excessive speed, telephone use.

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“There were a lot of face-to-face meetings,” adds Colonel Pierre-Olivier Benech, boss of the gendarmes in Orne.

A terrible end to the year

This year 2024 ended with a dramatic month: six people lost their lives in Orne in December. Of the last six accidents, two are linked to alcohol.

The causes remain unknown to others. “They occurred on roads that are not particularly dangerous and by experienced drivers with several years of license,” underlines Colonel Pierre-Olivier Benech.

1,300 license suspensions

The prefect of Orne recalled that around a hundred prevention actions were carried out during the year but also checks to “track bad behavior”. “Sanctions have reached an unprecedented volume,” reveals Sébastien Jallet. In 2024, nearly 1,300 licenses will be suspended in the department. Against 1,200 in 2023.

What solutions?

So much for the observation. But road dramas are by definition unexpected. If the gendarmerie group announces even more preventive actions, several mayors also want to put in place measures to reduce speed in the towns. Speed ​​is in fact the number one factor in accidents on the department's roads.

But this winter, particularly wet, is not helping the state of the roads. The combination of factors is an accelerator for drama. President of the Department, Christophe de Balorre wants to accentuate repression and prevention, in particular thanks to educational radars.

There is an urgent need in 2025 to put an end to the massacre. To slow down the merciless drama machine.

* Contacted since December 30, 2024 to analyze this sad year 2024 on the road, the Prefecture did not respond to our requests.

Vincent GUERRIER and Romaric LARUE

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