Winter is coming and with it the shorter days. Daily journeys will soon be done at night. The opportunity for the Sarthe road safety squadron to remind motorists of some instructions.

 

Damaged or badly adjusted lights, worn tires, or a dirty windshield, are all factors that promote road accidents in bad weather. The gendarmes of the departmental road safety squadron (EDSR) of Sarthe organize preventive operations with motorists to alert them to the right behaviors to adopt as winter approaches, as with this motorist, who do hadn’t checked his tires for a long time. “The wear indicator must be much more hollow, explains a gendarme of the squadron. I strongly advise you to change them. With the rain, the ice, security level is zero!”

 

See and be seen

The other enemy is the night, which falls earlier in the fall. The stake for the gendarme is to remember that it is necessary at the same time to see well and to be seen well by other road users. For Captain Eric Ratton, second in command of the squadron, it means checking his equipment: “You need lights that are in good condition, checking your windshield wipers, too, that’s very important.” Another element: the reflective yellow vest, compulsory at least on board. The squadron stops three young men on scooters and explains to them that with their dark jackets, they are not well visible on the road when the day falls. They will leave with vests on their backs, distributed by the gendarmes.

 

Cyclists also concerned

The vest is mainly used by motorists in the event of an accident if one has to park on the side of the road. But for those who prefer cycling, it can save lives. “In 2019, 187 cyclists were killed in a road accident, details Captain Eric Ratton. When visibility is insufficient, for example, foggy weather, cyclists are required to wear reflective vests.”

 

The time is for the moment only prevention but will come that of repression for the gendarmes. In the car, as in the bicycle, not to be well equipped, it is to risk a fine of 90 euros.