two highway agents broke in Isère, one succumbs to his injuries

Two agents were completing a beaconing operation when they were mowed down on the A43 motorway, Wednesday April 27, at 5:30 am. One of them did not survive. At the beginning of April, on the A9, a Vinci Autoroutes van had already been hit by a heavy goods vehicle, killing the patroller on board. The phenomenon is recurrent: approximately 130 accidents occur each year.

The patrollers regularly denounce their working conditions. “We really have to be hyper-vigilant as soon as we intervene, as soon as we get out of a vehicle, [il faut] really always have your eye behind you on the road, because the danger is permanent“, explains Benoît Blot, operations officer. In the Rennes sector (Ille-et-Vilaine), 12 accidents have already taken place since the start of 2022, i.e. three times more than in previous years. The prefecture launched an awareness-raising campaign aimed at the general public.