“It’s always too much” according to the prefecture
Sue to scooters and motorcycles parading at full speed and opting for dangerous behavior on the road.
The Minister of the Interior announced an intensification of checks this summer, and even the figure of 10,000 monthly operations in France for “fight against these criminal acts of people who smoke the road for their road”.
In the Rhône, the prefecture heard the message. But with 4 to 5 daily checks in the police zone and 3 in the gendarmerie zone, “we make the figures of three departments”welcomes Ivan Bouchier, Deputy Prefect for Security.
LyonMag was able to attend various checks carried out this Thursday afternoon in Villeurbanne. While waiting for rodeo enthusiasts to fall into the nets of the police in hideouts on Place Jules Granclément, Rue Emile Decorps and Rue Léon Blum, well-known thoroughfares between Villeurbanne and Vaulx-en-Velin, the representative of the State takes stock.
In the first seven months of 2022, 181 urban rodeos were observed in the department. Against 298 over the same period last year. That’s a 40% drop. “That’s about 1 rodeo a day, it’s still too much. (…) But -40%, I would also like to have it for burglaries”says Ivan Bouchier.
A fervent defender of video protection, which he considers decisive for finding the perpetrators of rodeos that the police rarely “hunt”, he cites 75 legal proceedings which resulted in 42 judgments.
“The claim of rodeo writers to overstep the bounds by provocation or bravado is antisocial behaviorstrikes Ivan Bouchier. This is to the systematic detriment of peace and security”.
While the prefect of police greets officials in front of the Pixel Pole, a man on a scooter goes up the nearby cycle path. No time to go and intercept him, his report is given by radio.
Under a blazing sun, the police wait tirelessly. Eventually, they make up for it with traffic violations. Rue Léon Blum, scooters and cars enter the bus lanes in front of them and are systematically stopped.
Out of 30 vehicles checked, 8 fines were issued for driving on the bus lane (x5), telephone while driving (x2) and an absence of declaration of transfer of vehicle registration document. A fixed tort fine was distributed for lack of insurance and a vehicle ended up in the pound for lack of driver’s license and insurance.
The game of cat and mouse will go on for a while yet. Everyone hopes that this will be done without drama as in the Paris region.
YY