Joint control "Safe Holiday" France - Belgium - Luxembourg – Germany

 

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Police forces from France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany carried out a transnational control of long-distance travel in France on 1st August.
In times of COVID-19 more and more people go on holiday with their caravan or camper. Especially during the summer holidays many drivers use the highway A 6 as transit route to France or Spain.

Experience from previous controls has shown that caravans and campers in particular are often overloaded. The consequence is a significantly increased risk of accidents. The braking distance increases and driving stability becomes worse.
Due to the high load, the summer heat and the long driving distances, the tyres are also heavily stressed. Tyre bursting is imminent. Incorrect air pressure or insufficient tread depth are also a considerable potential danger.
The action of the working group "traffic safety" therefore carried out the action "Opération civil été" (Safe Holiday). The focus was on preventive advice for drivers by specially trained road safety advisers.


The drivers were advised on the correct loading and road safety of their vehicles.  safe holiday 2However, serious violations were prosecuted and sanctioned.
In addition, speed and distance checks, which are among the main causes of serious road accidents, were carried out in parallel with checks on long-distance travel.
A total of 154 vehicles from 15 European countries were checked. Among them were 61 caravans and 46 caravan combinations. The police also checked 31 sprinters and 16 passenger cars.
The control forces determined the total weight of each stopped vehicle. To do this, the drivers drove to a mobile weighing station. In 18 cases the drivers had overloaded their car or trailer. 12 times the load was not properly secured.
One car driver was noticed for his unsafe driving. After a check, there were indications that he might be under the influence of drugs. A preliminary drug test came back positive. The officers brought the man to the station to take a blood test.

 

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