A new road police check operation has been launched in Aude, south-west France, as authorities condemn a “catastrophic” year for road traffic accident deaths, which are up 20% in 2025.
Alain Buquet, the department prefect, said the “number is catastrophic”, after revealing the road safety report at a press conference on November 17.
Road deaths due to traffic accidents in the department have seen 46 people die since the start of 2025. The number of accidents is down, as is the number of people injured. Yet, those accidents which did happen were more severe, the figures show.
It comes as there have never been so many road checks in the department, with 2,087 in the police zone (the areas around Carcassonne and Narbonne), and 6,258 in the gendarmerie zone (everywhere else).
Drug driving
Sanctions against dangerous driving have risen in parallel with the number of checks, which authorities say is to be expected.
“The doubling of checks has seen a doubling of infractions caught. And if we did three times or ten times more [checks], the number of infractions would follow the same curve,” said Laurent Sindic, director of the police nationale in Aude, to L’Indépendant.
“[There have been] 1,000 fines for driving under the influence of drugs. It seems more and more common for people to drive after having taken drugs,” said Colonel Francis David, commander of the Aude gendarmerie.
Mr Sindic said that in the police zones, most of the deaths on the roads involved drivers aged 70 or over (six of the 11 deaths in the police zones), but excess speed, alcohol, and drugs, were factors in the other cases. In the gendarmerie zones, 35 people died, of which eight were aged over 65.
Around 90% of fatal accidents affected people using pedestrian and cycle lanes, with 15 cyclists among those who died, as well as two people using electric scooters.
“Most of the time, [the people who died] are Audoise [from Aude], so they know the roads,” said Colonel David.
New check campaign
Authorities are set to maintain a high level of checks, in a bid to catch more people driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
A police and gendarmerie check campaign on several major roads in the department has now been launched, with police motorbikes patrolling and a gendarmerie presence on interchanges. Personnel will undergo new training to help them deal with the task more effectively, including courses that have been developed alongside victim advocacy group France Victimes Carcassonne.
The material will include what to do when informing a loved one of a death. There will also be extra psychological and social support for victims of severe accidents.
“We’re all trying to do as much as we can [with this new campaign]. Our main priority now is to have a strong response,” said Carcassonne prosecutor Géraldine Labialle, also at the press conference. “Each of these accidents is a human-scale drama, and a life ripped from their family.”
Already, the new campaign checks have caught a man watching a TV programme on his phone while driving.
“This is evidence of a real responsibility problem. A second of inattention while driving is enough to run over a pedestrian,” said Ms Labialle.
Another driver was caught on the same evening, and found to be driving despite having lost his licence after losing all of his points. He had been charged with the same offences less than a month previously, and so was taken into custody and his car impounded pending a decision on whether it will be confiscated permanently.
In 2025, four drivers were charged with manslaughter (involuntary homicide) in Carcassonne for causing death by dangerous driving, while another was charged with murder by dangerous driving, and sentenced to seven years jail time, of which two suspended.
“We must have a fast, firm, and coordinated response,” said Narbonne prosecutor Jean-Philippe Rey.
More stringent rules have also been imposed. Drivers who are caught re-offending, e.g. for driving under the influence of alcohol, can no longer “claim an educational sanction”, such as taking a course, he said. Instead, authorities will be able to impose stricter punishments such as licence suspensions.
In 2025, the department suspended 1,247 licences, of which 42% were linked to drugs, 30% to drinking, and 26% for excess speed.
What does the law say on dangerous driving?
The offence of homicide routier (road murder/homicide) became law on July 9 this year, and in certain cases, will replace the offence of homicide involontaire (manslaughter by dangerous driving) after a road accident.
The latter offence still exists if the driver was found to have caused the accident due to carelessness or a lack of attention. This is punished by three years in prison.
The new offence applies if the driver was found to have caused the accident due to driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, after refusing a drug or alcohol test, speeding at more than 30 km/h over the limit, committing a ‘hit and run’, or failing to stop to help someone injured or in danger.
It can be punished by up to seven years in prison, with a fine of €100,000. This rises to 10 years in jail and up to €150,000 if the offence combines these factors.
Dordogne drivers
The new Aude campaign comes after police in Dordogne also stepped up checks on the A89 motorway earlier in the month, as part of a wider push against rising road offences, drug trafficking and a marked increase in burglaries.
The campaign included police officers, gendarmes, and teams from customs, URSSAF, and environmental officers. Officials said the operation served both enforcement and prevention objectives.
A total of 400 vehicles were checked, with 40 offences recorded. These included three cases of driving under the influence of drugs, one combining alcohol and drugs, and two refusals to comply with testing.
One driver was taken into custody. Officers also seized 170g of narcotics and a bag of contraband tobacco. Several road-safety violations were also reported.
Dordogne has recorded 30 road deaths so far in 2025, 16 fewer than Aude.
