There seems to be no doubt about the misinterpretation hypothesis to explain the dramatic accident which left two dead on the urban crossing of Reims, this Friday June 21 around 7 p.m. The collision occurred in the Paris – Metz direction, just after the Saint-Remi interchange, at a slight curve preceding the long straight line which leads to the Cormontreuil diffuser, 1,500 meters further.
No sign of braking
There are three routes at this location. According to the findings, a motorist was driving on the left, where the field of vision is limited due to the curve: impossible, in the event of a wrong-way traffic, to see a vehicle arriving from afar and anticipate to avoid it. No sign of braking was visible on the road, which suggests that the two drivers found themselves face to face without having time to react.
Under the force of the impact, one of the cars came to a stop vertically. Recipient of the first call at 6:57 p.m., the firefighters could only note the death of the two motorists. No passengers accompanied them. A dog also died in the accident. The visible damage to the vehicles indicates a head-on collision.
I passed him before the Cormontreuil exit, he was already on the left lane. I honked like crazy but nothing made him slow down
This Saturday morning, the gendarmerie motorway platoon’s investigation was still underway to determine the circumstances of the accident. The author of the misinterpretation would be the oldest of the victims, aged 79 or 80. “We were sure [la voie du milieu] leaving Reims towards Troyes when an elderly person arrived in the wrong direction on the left lane, coming directly towards us”writes a Champagne FM listener, according to her testimony posted on the radio’s Facebook page.
Another listener provides more precise information: “I passed him on the three-lane section before the Cormontreuil exit, he was already on the left lane and I was in the middle towards Farman. I honked at him like crazy but nothing made him slow down and he was going really fast. Did he turn around at the highway toll booths? »
In 1991, at the same place
A fatal wrong-way collision on the urban crossing of Reims is an extremely rare event. We have to go back more than thirty years to find a precedent. On October 3, 1991 at the beginning of the afternoon, practically in the same place, just after the Saint-Remi interchange bridge, an 87-year-old motorist who was driving in the wrong direction was killed when he hit the road. left a van (the driver of which was seriously injured).
At the time, the investigation established that the octogenarian had entered the highway from the Cormontreuil interchange, in the direction of the Taissy toll, in front of which he had turned around to return to misdirection on the urban crossing. He had driven for two kilometers before hitting the van.
