Weekend of cross-country: “multiplying checks”, the holiday highway under high surveillance in Hérault

Un contrôle en forme de répétition générale, ce vendredi, avant un week-end sensible sur les routes de l’Hérault. Midi Libre – SYLVIE CAMBON

Ce vendredi 2 août, les gendarmes de l’Hérault ont mené un vaste contrôle sur l’autoroute des vacances, près de Montpellier. Une répétition générale avant un week-end identifié comme à risque.

Great heat, traffic jams, plumes of smoke and… Police control. Motorists who were taking the A9 motorway in the Béziers-Nîmes direction, this Friday, August 2, late in the afternoon, crossed the path of an important road safety system. Soldiers from the Poussan motorway platoon, supported by the motorized brigades from Lunel and Castelnau, positioned at the Saint-Jean-de-Védas tollbooth, a strategic area on the holiday route.

A check in the form of a dress rehearsal, this Friday, before a sensitive weekend on the roads of Hérault. Midi Libre – SYLVIE CAMBON

In less than three hours, the eighteen gendarmes will have checked nearly 250 vehicles and 271 people. Operation report: fifteen technical inspection defects, two professional drivers exceeding the driving time, illegible registration plates or even a failure to present a license and driving under the influence of drugs.

A period identified as at risk

“Today we are able to know in a few seconds if a car has an administrative defect, when it passes through the toll booth. Thanks to a virtually instantaneous color code, we can trigger a check in a few seconds”, explains Captain Frédéric Gros, commander of the Poussan gendarmerie motorway platoon. This Friday, his teams carried out a number of checks, particularly regarding blood alcohol levels, driving under the influence of drugs, but also compliance with the famous PTAC, the Total Authorized Weight often overlooked by holidaymakers.

A check in the form of a dress rehearsal, this Friday, before a sensitive weekend on the roads of Hérault. Midi Libre – SYLVIE CAMBON

A foretaste of the resources that will be deployed all weekend in the Hérault department. These 3 and 4 August have long been identified as days of heavy traffic, leading, among other adjustments, to a traffic ban for heavy goods vehicles between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. “We are arriving at a weekend of back and forth and therefore at the heart of the issue of road safety, indicates the chief of staff of the prefect of Hérault, Thibaut Félix. We have already had twenty-five deaths on the roads since the beginning of the year in Hérault. We need to raise awareness and increase checks during this key period. Everyone must do their part and follow the right actions."

160,000 vehicles per day at the Saint-Jean-de-Védas toll

On the Saint-Jean-de-Védas toll alone, 160,000 vehicles per day are expected this weekend. “It is estimated that 80,000 will go up north, and the same number will go down southd, explains Stéphane Heinen, second in command of the Hérault departmental road safety squadron. With the heat, the risk of drowsiness will increase and traffic jams will reduce the respect of safety distances."

This Friday, some motorists who were checked expressed their annoyance. Most submitted to the check with understanding. Some, like this group of young people from Switzerland, took the opportunity to take a photo of the gendarmes' Alpine A110. The rapid intervention vehicle will be mobilized this weekend, as will around forty soldiers, to patrol the department and hunt down infractions.

Traffic: a weekend in red and black

Be careful if you plan to take to the road this Saturday, August 3. The Bison Futé traffic forecasting service has classified this weekend of tossing and turning as “black” in the direction of departures throughout the whole of France. In the direction of returns, it will be red in Hérault as in the entire Mediterranean arc. Traffic is announced as “very difficult” or “extremely difficult” for this Saturday. It will be much better on Sunday, with forecasts of “green” in our sector in the direction of departures, and “orange” in the direction of returns. The evolution of traffic forecasts is available on bison-fute.gouv.fr.

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