The driver behind the fatal accident which occurred on the night of Monday 29 to Tuesday 30 December on the M7, near the Confluence district (Lyon 2nd), was presented this Thursday 1is January 2026 to an investigating judge. Following his prolonged police custody, the Lyon public prosecutor’s office announced the opening of a judicial investigation against him.
The impact was fatal to a left rear passenger in the Clio
Aged 20, the young man was indicted for road homicide aggravated by deliberately endangering the lives of others and for road injuries aggravated by the same circumstance. At the end of the debate before the judge of freedoms and detention, he was placed in pre-trial detention.
The facts date back to Monday evening, around 11:30 p.m. At the wheel of a Renault Captur, the driver was traveling at high speed on the former A7 motorway, downgraded to M7, in the north-south direction, when he violently collided from the rear with a Renault Clio, near the La Mulatière exit. The impact was fatal to the left rear passenger of the Clio, a 48-year-old woman from Valfleury in the Loire. His daughter, seated at the right rear, was seriously injured, with no life-threatening injuries. The accident also left five other people injured, with minor injuries.
Speed associated with the use of nitrous oxide
During the intervention of the emergency services and the police, several bottles of nitrous oxide were found in the driver’s vehicle, where there were also two passengers.
The investigation has since established that the young man had indeed used this gas and that he was driving at a clearly excessive speed at the time of the collision, according to the Lyon prosecutor’s office, without the estimated speed having been communicated.
This tragedy occurred in a context of increased vigilance on the roads during this holiday season, particularly regarding the misuse of nitrous oxide, banned in the Rhône by prefectural decree since December 19.
