Escota patrolman killed while attending accident at La Turbie toll
40 firefighters were called out, as well as the gendarmerie - © SDIS06 / M.STARK
Vinci Autoroutes is in mourning and is pressing charges for manslaughter.
There were tragic scenes on the A8 on Sunday 3 March, with torrential rain falling on the Côte d’Azur. At around 1.30 pm, the Alpes-Maritimes fire brigade reported a “major traffic accident on the A8 motorway heading towards Italy”. They reported that the motorway was cut off in both directions after exit 58 and that seven victims were being treated.
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Reckless driving
Thirty minutes later, it was announced that one of the victims had died, a 54-year-old Escota motorway patrolman. In a press release, Vinci condemned “the unacceptable circumstances” of the tragedy: “as Escota (VINCI Autoroutes) safety patrolmen, gendarmes, and breakdown services were assisting a crashed vehicle and its occupants after setting up markers to secure the area, they were hit by a speeding car. The Escota patrolman died, and four other people, including another Escota patrolman, two gendarmes and a breakdown mechanic, were injured – two of them seriously. The images of the accident show that the driver was driving recklessly and at high speed, and Vinci Autoroutes has decided to press charges for manslaughter.”
Vinci also issued a reminder in a special message broadcast on Sunday evening on its social networks and on motorway radio station Info Trafic, 107.7: “when you are at the wheel, always look far ahead and keep a wide berth when you see the safety services responding. Their flashing lights and bollards are always visible, and it is always possible, essential and vital to observe a safe distance, as required by the highway code.”
The entire editorial team at Monaco Tribune extends its condolences to the family of the deceased.