A call for greater caution now that the summer holidays begin and the julists are about to hit the road. Last week, Vinci Autoroutes launched an extensive prevention and awareness campaign to protect its patrol officers, who are extremely vulnerable when traveling on French motorways.
In a place where we can see an intervention van seriously damaged after an impact, we learn that “every week, on average, an intervention vehicle is hit by a vehicle on the Vinci Autoroutes network.”
“When are you going to hit?” they then ask him.
security corridor
To mark motorists even more, in parallel with this campaign, around twenty recently damaged intervention vans were displayed at the Saint-Arnould-en-Yvelines tollbooth. Last March, an agent was even killed in the Alpes-Maritimes.
“Very often the same situation occurs: drivers of passenger cars or heavy vehicles who do not look at the road, who have lost attention due to distraction or drowsiness and who are not going to respect the safety corridor rule,” he states on BFMTV, Bernadette Moreau, general delegate of the Vinci Autoroutes foundation.
According to her, the main cause of accidents involving highway patrol officers is failure to comply with the safety corridor, a new instruction registered in the highway code since 2018.
“The safety corridor rule is: when we see an intervention van or a stopped vehicle, we of course slow down and move as much as possible to the next lane. This is better to preserve a safety zone for all responding rescuers. help from another vehicle,” explains Bernadette Moreau.
According to the responsible driving barometer of the Vinci Autoroutes foundation, 67% of motorists do not systematically apply this safety instruction and, even worse, 19% do not know this rule. On average, it is estimated that the life expectancy of a pedestrian in the emergency lane is around twenty minutes.
19 vehicles impacted since February
Patrollers have, due to their role, a lower life expectancy due to danger. On BFMTV, Bruno, an accident victim, remembers the violence of the shock.
“I was working on a disabled vehicle in the emergency lane. A vehicle came to remove the left side of the van from me. There was no accident, we were behind the barriers with the client, the vehicle stopped further away and the van abandoned in a plateau,” rewind.
And the latter also lists the causes that, according to him, cause these accidents. “I think people concentrate on their lane, they don’t want to move from it. The vehicles are so equipped that they are real living rooms with all the distractions that there may be. There is also drowsiness, “lack of attention and lack of respect.” of the runner. of security.”
Vinci Autoroutes also points out several alarming figures, including one intervention vehicle hit every nine days on its network. “Since January 1, 2024, 19 intervention vehicles have been run over,” more is known.
Source: BFM TV
