In Toulouse, patients at a cancer treatment center exhausted by urban rodeos
The Toulouse Oncopole is located near the Route d’Espagne, a two-lane artery taken over by amateurs of this illegal practice.
Already exhausted by their treatment, patients at the Toulouse Cancer University Institute are exhausted. The Oncopole, where they are followed, is near the road to Spain, a popular place for fans of urban rodeos, this illegal practice still responsible for a new drama this weekend in Pontoise, in the Val -d’Oise.
Results ? Every weekend, they are disturbed from 2 a.m. by engine noises and squealing tires.
“At night, it’s terrible, because it doesn’t start before 2 a.m. We are already very tired from the treatments,” says Marie, a patient hospitalized at the Institute for 15 days and who is undergoing chemotherapy.
“As soon as the police leave, they come back”
In a video that BFMTV was able to consult, we observe at least seven vehicles, screaming engines, surveying the road to Spain which runs along the Oncopole. It must be said that the artery is an ideal place for fans of urban rodeos. Little sought after, it offers two wide routes.
Disturbed in the middle of the night, Marie tried to contact the police. “The agent told me that indeed, they had already passed 45 minutes before. But they are playing cat and mouse. They manage to disperse them, and afterwards, as soon as the police have left, they come back and that lasts all night”, she despairs.
The difficult task of the police
In Toulouse, the work of the police is made all the more difficult as lookouts are present, responsible for alerting the arrival of the police. On BFMTV, Franck Lebas, attached to the police union SGP Police Unit, recalled that the law of August 3, 2018 had indeed created a specific offense for urban rodeos.
But the trade unionist regrets that in the event of a fall of the driver or an accident, the responsibility of the police officer is systematically engaged, discouraging the police. The police would not take the risk of a chase to arrest the suspects.
Intimidated residents
In Toulouse, it is not only the patients of the Oncopole who are disturbed by the phenomenon. The employees too. Some even say they have been subjected to intimidation attempts.
“Me, it happened to me one evening when I left work around 9:30 p.m. to find myself in the middle of the road to Spain. I had two cars accompany me to make me understand that I was too many. And a Once I left, they resumed their wild rodeo,” says Jasmin, a former nurse at the Oncopole.
Between 2020 and 2021, the number of convictions for urban rodeos increased by 40%. Last year, 1,400 convictions were handed down. According to the law, an individual convicted of this offense risks one year’s imprisonment and a 15,000 euro fine.