Many accidents have taken place along this stretch of road; at least 150 deaths have been recorded at the site between 1946 and 2007, primarily of pilgrims returning from
Our Lady of La Salette. It is the deadliest roadway section anywhere in France. • In 1946, a bus transporting pilgrims from
Our Lady of La Salette crashed into a ravine, killing 18; today a memorial to the dead stands along the roadside near Saint-Pierre-de-Mésage. • In 1956, a
Dutch bus suffered the same fate at the same place; seven were killed. • In 1968, a
truck flew off the road, killing its two occupants. • In 1970, another bus transporting
pilgrims flew over several walls before coming to a stop; five passengers, from
Nord, were killed. The cause of this accident was later determined to be excessive speed. • Another bus full of pilgrims, returning again from Our Lady of La Salette, crashed near the base of the road in 1973; 43
Belgians were killed. • In 1974, a truck without
brakes hit a car, killing four. • Another bus returning from Our Lady of La Salette
crashed near the base of the road in 1975, in the same location as the previous bus; 29 were killed. • In 2007, yet another bus full of pilgrims, this time from
Poland,
crashed on the road, killing 26.
1946 French bus accident The 1946 accident was the first in a string of fatal accidents along this stretch of road, which has been claimed as one of the deadliest in
France. 18 people were killed when a
bus lost the use of its
brakes, flying off the road and into a
ravine along the
Romanche; the bus was transporting
pilgrims from
Beaujolais on a return journey from
Our Lady of La Salette, where they had been celebrating the
Marian Year. A memorial to the dead was later erected near the town of
Saint-Pierre-de-Mésage, close to the accident site.
1973 Belgian bus accident The 18 July 1973 accident remains, , the worst ever to have occurred along that stretch of roadway. A
bus was carrying
Belgian pilgrims from
Braine-le-Comte returning from a visit to the shrine of
Our Lady of La Salette; it missed a
curve at the base of the road, near its intersection with the bridge over the
Romanche, and overturned. Forty-three people were killed and six injured in the resulting crash. After the crash the
mayor of
Laffrey condemned the route as being particularly dangerous, as it had already claimed over one hundred lives over the previous quarter-century. The accident is sometimes referred to as the
accident de Vizille because it occurred very close to the entrance of the town of
that name; the crash site, however, is actually located within the boundaries of the
commune of
Notre-Dame-de-Mésage. Today a memorial to the victims stands at the site of the accident; it claims the number of dead as forty-five.
1975 French bus accident In an accident on 2 April 1975, 29
pilgrims from
Sully-sur-Loire in
Loiret were killed when their bus lost its
brakes at the bottom of the road, causing it to fly over a ravine at a speed estimated at 120 kilometers an hour; it then crashed into a
garden and overturned. As a result of this crash, more careful regulation of electronic braking systems was instituted across
France, as were annual inspections of heavy vehicles.
2007 Polish bus accident In circumstances similar to those of the two previous accidents, on 22 July 2007 at 9:30 am, a Polish bus carrying fifty people apparently lost the use of its brakes at the base of the hill. It missed the final curve of the descent and overturned into a ravine near the
Romanche, where it immediately burst into flames. The accident occurred at almost the same spot at which a
Belgian bus suffered the same fate in 1973, killing 43. Provisional figures as of 9 August put the death toll at 26, with 24 injured, 9 of them seriously, and 3 in intensive care. The accident provoked an outpouring of public support both in France and in Poland. French Prime Minister
François Fillon and
Jean-Louis Borloo, then the Minister of Ecology and in charge of transport, immediately went to the scene of the accident. Polish president
Lech Kaczyński quickly came to
Grenoble, where he was met by French president
Nicolas Sarkozy; together, the two men visited the bedsides of several victims who had been transported to various local hospitals. The bus, loaded with pilgrims from
Szczecin,
Świnoujście,
Warsaw and
Stargard Szczeciński, had left Poland on 10 July for the start of a tour of
Marian sanctuaries in southern Europe. It had made stops at
Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal and at
Our Lady of Lourdes, and finished at the sanctuary of
Our Lady of La Salette. It crashed on its return trip to Poland; 47 pilgrims, a chaperone, and two drivers, all Polish, were on board. He had chosen instead to follow a shorter route indicated on his
GPS, According to the Polish operator of the tour, it had passed a technical inspection in Germany three weeks prior to the accident without question. It is not known if the bus was equipped with a speed-reduction system; similar recently built vehicles have been designed with a backup system, either
electromagnetic or
hydraulic, in addition to the usual brakes. Motorists who were following the bus during its descent indicated that the brake lights appeared to be working normally.
Aftermath At a
press conference on 25 July, Prime Minister Fillon announced that additional restrictions along the roadway would immediately be planned. Flashing signs were to be installed, as were
speed bumps as high as the former signs at the location. At the end of September special
gantries were also to have been placed, preventing the entry of vehicles over a certain height. A barrier was also planned, containing a magnetic card designed to recognize only certain service vehicles that are authorized to use the road. By January 2008, no gantries had been placed at the site, and only a few of the signs were ready for use. Furthermore, there was a good deal of evidence that unauthorized vehicles still used the road. The gantries were inaugurated in July 2008. On 8 October 2007 President Kaczynski presented a special decoration to 32 people who had participated in rescue efforts after the accident. The ceremony took place at the Polish
embassy in Paris.
Regulations and signage up to July 2007 After a pair of accidents in the 1970s, the route was heavily reworked to make it safer for light vehicles and load-bearing vehicles, but modifications to safely accommodate
buses were considered too expensive and difficult. The road was widened, and several sections near the summit were expanded to three
lanes. Vehicles over eight
tons and buses, except those serving regular local routes, were banned from using the road without specific authorization from the local prefect. Those local and regular services are allowed only on specially designed vehicles with speed-reducers. Buses and trucks coming from the regular route are requested to exit at
La Mure and to take secondary road 529 past the
massif of
Conest towards Grenoble. Many violations of this rule have been noted, though. however, it was soon removed after being considered in poor taste and
politically incorrect.
Changes after the accident of 22 July 2007 On 25 July 2007, as a result of the most recent accident on the ramp,
French Prime Minister François Fillon held a
press conference to announce a series of measures to prevent such a heavy vehicle from attempting the descent again. Flashing signs were installed within days, as were
speed bumps at the level of the road signs, designed to ensure driver attention to these signs. In July 2008, height gauges were also set up to physically prevent access for vehicles over a certain height. Authorised vehicles, such as local buses equipped with an improved braking system, are issued with a magnetic card allowing them to bypass the height gauge. ==Appearances in Tour de France==