In a few weeks, three vehicles of road agents were struck during interventions. An employee of the Calvados department was killed in October
on the Caen-Ouistreham dual carriageway. Last week, two vans from the DIRNO (Interregional Directorate of North-West Roads) were involved in an accident in the Bayeux sector. Benoît Hauchecorne, responsible for the DIRNO of the Manche Calvados district, is concerned about the behavior of road users vis-à-vis his 150 patrollers who carry out more than 12,500 interventions per year on the 370 kilometers of roads managed by his service.
Benoit Hauchecorne: However, we have procedures that we put in place regularly when we are called in on an accident or on a broken down vehicle. Our vans arrive, place the cones, leave a safe distance between the van and the broken down vehicle. The spiers are visible over 300 meters away. And yet, we are still hit by vehicles. On the territory of the Channel and Calvados, already seven accidents since the beginning of the year. In general, we have 12,500 interventions over the year. So you’re going to tell me six or seven accidents, that’s not a lot, but they are six or seven accidents too many!
France Blue: If we take the two accidents of last week: what were the risky behaviors of users?
Benoit Hauchecorne: On the first accident, it was a young person who was typing an SMS on his mobile phone. He wasn’t looking at the road and he didn’t see the arrow. And for the second accident, it was someone who had set the cruise control to 110 kilometers per hour and who fell asleep at the wheel….
France Blue: These are fairly recent technologies such as the mobile phone, cruise control. Did it contribute to increase the risk?
Benoit Hauchecorne: Indeed, I think that contributes to increase the risk, the lack of attention of the drivers. We have more and more what we call distractors at the wheel. All of these new technologies increase the risk of hitting anything on the road. Users would have to accept that while driving you don’t answer the phone and you don’t touch your GPS.
France Blue: Beyond the risks to their physical integrity, these patrol officers also experience a climate of verbal aggression. Are they blamed for being there?
Benoit Hauchecorne: Yes quite. It is something expanding, unfortunately. When patrol officers intervene, it is generally systematically for the safety of road users. And yet, they suffer middle fingers, insults. All that because indeed, when they intervene, there are sometimes slowdowns. And road users don’t like slowdowns.
France Blue: You manage 150 road officers. For them the stress at work is becoming more and more important?
Benoit Hauchecorne: Yes, for our teams, there is great stress when going on an intervention, due to the behavior of certain users. Yet they have the public service pegged to the body! And when there is an intervention to be made, they always go there. They can’t imagine not intervening, but they sometimes go there with fear in their stomachs.
France Blue: For you, as a manager, how can you help them?
Benoit Hauchecorne: There are two information campaigns that are carried out at the national level, one on the safety of officers and the other on incivility. We also have memorandums of understanding with law enforcement as part of our interventions. And then there is also an article of the highway code that came out in 2018. It punishes those who go too fast and who do not move out of danger if they can. Very concretely, this consists, when there is a patroller, of slowing down and going to the left lane if this is obviously possible. Road users must clearly understand that officers never intervene for pleasure, but always for the safety of users.