Le Figaro Nice
A young man of 28, bus driver for a transport company, was sentenced to eight months in prison on Tuesday after having tested positive for narcotics the day before and above all... without a driving license, learns
Le Figaro
with the Nice public prosecutor's office on Wednesday, confirming information from
Nice Matin
.
Monday, this father of a young child was driving his bus, boulevard Maréchal Joffre, in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, very close to Nice (Alpes-Maritimes), when he collided with a vehicle in front of him.
The motorist in front of him swerved, he didn't see it coming.
The accident is not serious, no one is injured and besides, the man is traveling empty, there is no one on board the bus.
The gendarmes arrived a few minutes later following an ordinary security and control procedure.
It is in this context that the driver is subjected to a breathalyzer then to a saliva test.
If the first turns out to be negative, this is not the case for the second which reacts immediately to cannabis.
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"I had no choice"
But the soldiers are not at the end of their surprises.
When they ask the young man to show them his driving license, he is obliged to admit to them that he is no longer in possession of the precious sesame.
And for good reason, it was withdrawn for six months in November 2023 after a series of traffic violations.
Rather than inform his employer, he preferred to take the risk of saying nothing to preserve his job, even if it meant defying the law and endangering the lives of others.
The gendarmes then arrested him and took him into custody.
During the immediate appearance hearing on Tuesday, he tried in vain to explain himself, citing his child to feed.
“I had no choice
,” he told the court, according to comments reported by the regional daily.
In addition to the suspended prison sentence, he was sentenced to a fine of 300 euros.
He will also have to complete a drug awareness course, at his own expense.
For several months, Riviera police officers and magistrates have not been playing around with this type of files, which are spreading in a worrying manner, in an area with winding roads known to be dangerous.
On January 12, a bus driver positive for cocaine and cannabis made an impressive exit from the road in the early morning in Levens, plunging several meters into the void and causing two serious injuries.
Ten days later, the Alpes-Maritimes gendarmerie, which had then decided to intensify its checks in the valleys, arrested two new bus drivers, who in turn tested positive for narcotics.
Finally, in mid-February, a staff representative from the transport company TACAVL, located in Châteauneuf-Grasse, denounced the behavior of certain drivers of the company who, according to her, had become accustomed to taking the road in bad condition. of intoxication.