13 people were injured on Saturday evening after a man lost control of his vehicle during a prohibited urban rodeo. The driver was remanded in custody pending trial.
He put his life in danger, that of his three passengers as well, and injured 13 people. In the words of the prosecutor of the Republic of Bordeaux, it is a “real miracle” that there was no death after the road accident which occurred on Saturday evening during an urban rodeo rue du professor Darget in Bordeaux.
The driver of the vehicle in question will be tried next June for “unintentional injuries” and participation in an urban rodeo.
· What happened on Saturday night?
Many people gathered this Saturday evening rue du professor Darget, in the Bordeaux-Lac commercial area, to participate and attend a “run”, a motorized urban rodeo where the participants take themselves for pilots. As the event – banned by the authorities – was coming to an end, a man driving a Citröen C3 decided to take the route.
The driver had first come to attend this urban rodeo as a spectator with three other people. When it was time to leave, he decided to take turns on the improvised circuit, despite the reluctance of his three passengers. The 30-year-old completed two laps before, against the advice of his friends, to do a third lap. Without special driving skills and with dangerous traffic conditions, due to wet pavement, the driver lost control of his vehicle.
The car then hit a group of urban rodeo spectators still present. The driver, in a state of amazement, then fled. He first managed to dodge the motorists who were trying to block him before the latter, having pursued him, managed to do so a few kilometers from the accident, in Bassens.
· What is the state of health of the victims?
A total of 13 people were injured, including a 17-year-old minor. “A real miracle” for the Bordeaux prosecutor, none were seriously injured and on Sunday the victims were all able to return to their homes.
A medical examiner must now assess their physical trauma, which will be defined in terms of ITT (total incapacity for work). The psychological impact of the victims will also be taken into account.
· What are the legal consequences for this accident?
When the car involved in the accident was intercepted, four people were taken into custody: the 32-year-old driver and his three passengers. Residing in Gironde, he was previously unknown to the police or justice. In police custody, he admitted having no experience as a racing driver and expressed “strong regrets”, notes the magistrate.
At the end of his hearings, he was referred to the Bordeaux prosecutor’s office, which decided to summon him for a deferred appearance before the criminal court on June 7 for “involuntary injuries” with two aggravating circumstances, “conduct of a vehicle compromising the safety of users or public tranquility” and for having participated in an urban rodeo. He faces up to seven years in prison.
Presented Sunday to a judge of freedoms and detention, he was imprisoned pending trial. The three passengers, aged 30, 21 and 19, were all released without prosecution.
· What severity should be expected from the courts?
The public prosecutor of Bordeaux judged very severely the road accident which occurred during this motorized urban rodeo. “Friday evening’s accident in a commercial area is therefore part of a manifestly deliberate desire by the people involved in it to break the law and put others in danger”, denounced Frédérique Porterie.
The magistrate recalled the work carried out jointly by the authorities, the police and the justice system, to fight against these shows for several months and deplored that “participants in this type of practice persevere in defiance of all prohibitions and/or actions for stop them”. She also regrets that the “presence of spectators comes to endorse these illicit practices since the drivers come precisely to exhibit their performances in front of third parties”.
“If for the time being, we can be delighted that this affair has not had dramatic consequences, we must above all hope that the participants in this kind of exercise will become aware of the seriousness of their actions, whether they are active authors or passive spectators”, concluded the prosecutor.
