'They were driving between 130 and 150 kilometers per hour': witness to the accident during the run in Nîmes, Eddy testifies

L'accident a eu lieu sur cette portion de route, sur la RD999. MIDI LIBRE – M. Anisset

Eddy (prénom d'emprunt) était sur place pour assister à la course sauvage, vendredi soir, qui a fini en double accident sur la D999 (route de Beaucaire) à Nîmes.

He witnessed the tragic road accident in Beaucaire, in Nîmes, which left three people injured, two of whom were serious, on Friday evening. Eddy (borrowed first name), lover of cars and speed, testifies:

You say you attended the Route de Beaucaire run on Friday evening. What did you see?

I am a car enthusiast. Every Friday evening, I'm there. This Friday, a black Seat Ibiza and a gray Golf IV were racing. The Seat was in front. But on the road there was also a black Nissan Micra, which was not racing. While trying to avoid the Nissan Micra, the Seat swerved the wheel and crashed. (…) The Golf IV also swerved and ended up in a plane tree on the other side of the road. As soon as there was this accident, we ran and called the fire brigade.

How fast were these vehicles traveling ?

More than 100 for sure. I think between 130 and 150 km/h (for a speed limit of 90, Editor's note).

Have you ever participated in this type of race yourself??

I had participated before, at Costières (behind the stadium, the track has since been made impossible to access, Editor's note). Because there, if an accident happened, it was only between people who had chosen to participate in the runs. There, I don't do it because there may be people in the middle who haven't asked for anything. If mom and dad come home from the cinema with the children and they find themselves in the middle, they risk their lives.

There should therefore be places dedicated to running, in your opinion ?

In Reunion, for example, running is a passion. There are tracks dedicated to that. But in mainland France, we will never be able to do that. And some people like to do what is illegal.

Is there money in these races ?

At Costières, there were some. But these days, people only come to show what they can do.