The Pyrénées-Orientales gendarmerie presented this Tuesday the Alpine 110, the new rapid intervention vehicle which reinforces the ranks of the Departmental Road Safety Squadron (EDSR).
The drivers just have to behave themselves. The new toy of the Pyrénées-Orientales gendarmerie, l’Alpine 110, participated in its first control exercise on Tuesday morning. This intervention vehicle has impressive performance: 252 horsepower under the hood, it goes from 0 to 100 km/h in less than 5 seconds.
The Alpine replaces the aging Mégane RS used for ten years. A state-of-the-art car, manufactured and equipped in France, with “the power-to-weight ratio is quite exceptional”, as underlined by Warrant Officer Jérôme, one of the only two gendarmerie pilots in the department authorized to drive the vehicle. A third pilot is being trained.
Discover the new Alpine A110 from the @Gendarmerie.
ud83dudc49 26 models of Alpine A110 will be delivered to the rapid intervention teams of the gendarmerie.
Powerful vehicles made in France to adapt the means of action of our gendarmes once morest delinquents. ud83cuddebud83cuddf7 pic.twitter.com/AHtDBDlLvk
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) December 17, 2021
Fight excessive speeding
The ultra-fast car will be used by the Departmental Road Safety Squadron (EDSR) of the Gendarmerie to fight excessive speeding (over 50 km/h) on roads such as the A9, the RD 617 or the RD 914. The car can be used on large-scale operations and in particular go-fasts. A reinforcement which the squadron leader Julien Richy welcomes: “This will make it possible to provide a preventive and dissuasive response”. The price of an Alpine 110 is estimated at 60,000 euros but the gendarmerie refuses to indicate what the equipped vehicle cost him.
Last year, 55 offenders were arrested at speeds over 50km/h of the speed limit in the Pyrénées-Orientales. The year 2022 is not to be outdone since the gendarmes recently checked a vehicle driving at 243 km / h on the A9. A highway on which 45,000 vehicles travel per day, with peaks of 76,000 in the summer period.
This is not the first time that the gendarmerie has driven an Alpine. Indeed, it is a real back to basics since the A110 Berlinette was the first rapid intervention vehicle (VRI) which the gendarmerie acquired in 1967. “It’s a good choice”, judges Warrant Officer Jérôme who appreciates the nod to history. This new Alpine opens the ball. Eventually, all VRIs in the department are destined to be replaced.