The freezing rains which affected half the north and east of the country this Saturday led to several accidents on the A6, the A31 and the A3 and disrupted traffic. A 20-year-old young man died on the A6 in Burgundy, in an accident probably due to this disruption.
A disturbance bringing snow and ice crosses the north of France this weekend and causes accidents on the roads this Saturday, January 4. A 20-year-old young man died on Saturday on the A6 in Burgundy, in an accident probably due to the disturbance which crossed the north and east of France during this last weekend of the Christmas holidays, leading to the placement around twenty departments on orange snow-ice alert.
The driver of one of the vehicles, a 20-year-old young man, died, while four other people were slightly injured, including a 6-year-old child, firefighters said.
According to a report at 9:30 p.m., sixteen road accidents were recorded in Côte d’Or, causing sixty victims including, in addition to the young man who died, two seriously injured.
Several accidents
Accidents took place on the A31, A5 and A3 motorways, according to the APRR, manager of these motorways. Many roads experienced disruptions on Saturday evening. Céline experienced this: she was stuck at a standstill for three hours on the A38 then had to “slalom” between “broken down cars, damaged cars” and through “freezing fog” and “from freezing rain.
“We are on the highway, we are traveling at 35 (km/h), we can’t wait to get home,” she told BFMTV.
22 departments are placed on orange snow-ice alert on Saturday evening due to a disturbance which is expected to particularly affect the north and east of the country during this last weekend of the Christmas holidays, before a mild spell on Sunday.
Météo-France predicts snowfall “generally quite brief”, but warns that “they can be more persistent in the border departments of the Grand-Est, possibly dropping up to five centimeters on the ground”. Freezing rain could then last “between one and three hours”. “Traffic conditions could be tricky in the areas concerned,” warns Bison Futé, who calls on road users to “find out about changes in weather and traffic conditions before leaving.”
Limited speeds
In Côte d’Or, traffic was prohibited for around fifteen kilometers on the A38, west of Dijon, freezing rain having made the roadway very slippery, according to the prefecture.
In several regions, authorities have limited the speeds allowed on the roads. In Île-de-France, the speed is lowered by 20 km/h from 5 p.m. to midnight, on the entire network, except the ring road. The police headquarters recommends favoring public transport, equipping your car with snow tires and providing “minimum equipment (warm clothing, food, water)”.
In Hauts-de-France, between Saturday 7 p.m. and Sunday 6 a.m., vehicles weighing less than 3.5 tonnes will have to limit their speed to 110 km/h on sections of motorway normally limited to 130 km/h and 90 km/h on sections of motorways and national roads normally limited to 110 km/h. Vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tonnes must not exceed 80 km/h on national roads and motorways in the region and will be prohibited from overtaking.
Same ban on overtaking and reduced speed of 20 km/h for those weighing more than 7.5 tonnes in Eure. In Côte-d’Or, Doubs, Jura and Territoire de Belfort, Marne, Haute-Marne, Haut-Rhin, Haute-Saône and Vosges, these heavy goods vehicles weighing more than 7.5 tonnes are prohibited from driving until 10 p.m.
