An 18-year-old young woman died in an accident between two motorcycles this Sunday, November 24 on Boulevard de l’Industrie in Bassens, in Gironde. Two other young men were transported to CHU Pellegrin, in Bordeaux, in a state of absolute emergency. The mayor of Bassens confides his sadness, his anger and his dismay.
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She was a passenger and was not wearing a helmet. The death of this 18-year-old young woman joins the macabre list of victims of urban rodeos. Sunday November 24, around 6 p.m., she was hit on the side by another motocross bike in the port area of Bassens, on the Boulevard de l’Industrie. The young woman dies instantly. The place is known to enthusiasts who like “rolling mechanics” and zigzag on this long straight line, disregarding the rules of the road.
The day after the tragedy, the city’s mayor, Alexandre Rubio, did not hide his dismay. “I am sad for this young woman, for the two injured, I am obviously thinking of their family. And I am also very angry. I don’t see the end of this and I tell myself that it will continue. How much will -it takes deaths for this problem to be taken seriously. I am both tired and exasperated. !”
Boulevard de l’Industrie in Bassens is the subject of urban rodeos every weekend
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© France 3 Aquitaine
Fans of the practice sometimes travel a long way to find themselves on this Bassens site. This was again the case this Sunday. The victim lived in Saint-Gervais, 25 kilometers from the Bordeaux metropolitan area and one of the two injured lives in Lesparre-Médoc.
They are motocross enthusiasts who come from outside and come to practice their passion here.
Alexandre Rubio,Mayor of Bassens
That evening, Steven, a young man who wishes to remain anonymous, was there. He regularly attends these rodeos.“ We meet here on weekends to do acrobatics. We do wheelies, we stand on the bike, we do handless. We do it here because the area is protected, there are not too many vehicles passing through and as few residents as possible.” Steven says. Arriving a few minutes after the tragedy, he was unable to do anything. “I saw the young lady on the ground with the firefighters and I also saw the two other injured people on the ground. Did they come to this road to put their motorbikes behind the cars? ? Did they do one last rodeo too many, it’s very sad !”
An 18-year-old young woman died instantly during an urban rodeo in Bassens
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© France 3 Aquitaine
An investigation has been opened to determine the circumstances of the tragedy. For the moment the national police of Gironde have not yet confirmed that it is indeed an urban rodeo. “Even if everything suggests that it is a rodeo, according to the first observations”, explains a commissioner. “The location, the time, the absence of wearing a helmet are important indications but we do not yet have certainty”. Samples are being analyzed and hearings are to be held this Monday.
Last night, leaving this field, they had fun doing wheelies, standing starts, and then two motorcycles collided on the boulevard.
Alexandre Rubio,Mayor of Bassens
What appears certain at the moment is how the scenario unfolds. As always, according to the testimonies collected, it all started on private land. Land which belongs to the Grand Maritime Port of Bordeaux, of which the mayor of Bassens is at the head of the supervisory board. “They practice their passion, motocross, in this place. And when they leave in the evening, they tend to do a bit of anything on the road before reloading the motorcycles on the car trailers,” relates the councilor.
The mayor of this town of 7,800 inhabitants on the right bank, explains that he is fighting with the means available to him and which appear very paltry given the situation. Last summer, Alexandre Rubio issued a municipal decree to prohibit the use of motorcycles on this road on weekend. Without success.
The rumble strips installed to try to dissuade these thrill and speed enthusiasts are not more effective. “It’s dangerous and it’s not a place to do this kind of thing. This is the reason why I came to the point of banning by municipal decree the circulation of motorcycles on the roads of the industrial zone on weekends -end”, specifies the councilor.
Not even a first tragedy which led to the death of a 22-year-old young man on August 2 has made it possible to stem the phenomenon. The chosen one feels helpless. The State, the Metropolis, the police are aware of the problem. “Today, the toll is very heavy. But you should know that the firefighters intervene almost every weekend for motorcycle falls. Each time, it is a broken ankle, a wrist,” recalls the mayor of Bassens.
The mayor of Bassens has issued a municipal decree to prohibit the circulation of two-wheelers on weekends on this axis.
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© France 3 Aquitaine
The problem has also become that of the neighborhood “exceeded” by noise. The area is also very busy at this time of the week. “We have employees who come to work, businesses in the port area operate on weekends, explains Alexandre Rubio. And I am not able to have municipal police mobilized 24/7 in the area every Saturday and Sunday.”
What solution?
Soon, the private land on which these enthusiasts meet will no longer be accessible. In the medium term, it must accommodate a service area for heavy goods vehicles. Alexandre Rubio can’t wait for the work to begin. “Once we have regained control of this land, with use, this will prevent the practice of motocross and that should help resolve part of the problem,” he hopes.
This Monday, the day after the tragedy, the two 19-year-old young men are still in absolute emergency at the Bordeaux University Hospital. The young woman’s parents and her brother, who came to the scene of the accident, were transported in a state of shock to the Charles Perrens hospital center.
