World · Europe · 6 hrs ago
Van driver dies after hitting motorway patrol vehicle near Tours
A 32-year-old van driver died after a crash on the A10 motorway near Parçay-Meslay, north of Tours, on Monday afternoon.
A Vinci Autoroutes patrol vehicle was there to protect a vehicle stopped after a puncture when the van hit the patrol vehicle.
The van driver was trapped and seriously injured, and rescuers could not save him.
The patrol worker and the driver of the vehicle with the puncture were not injured, though they were shaken.
Traffic slowed, and two trucks then collided at the back of the queue, with no injuries reported.
Two lanes were closed during the emergency response, and traffic returned to the road by mid-afternoon.
A 32-year-old van driver died after his vehicle hit a Vinci Autoroutes patrol vehicle on the A10 near Parçay-Meslay, north of Tours.
The collision happened shortly after 1 p.m. on 19 October 2026, in the Bordeaux-to-Paris direction.
The patrol vehicle was protecting a vehicle that had stopped after a puncture.
The van driver was trapped and seriously injured, and died despite the response of emergency services.
A separate collision between two heavy goods vehicles occurred in the resulting traffic queue; no one was injured.
- Who
- A 32-year-old van driver died. The patrol worker and the driver of the vehicle with the puncture were uninjured.
- What
- The van struck a Vinci Autoroutes patrol vehicle. A separate collision between two heavy goods vehicles followed.
- When
- Shortly after 1 p.m. on 19 October 2026.
- Where
- The A10 near exit 19, at Parçay-Meslay, north of Tours, in the Bordeaux-to-Paris direction.
- Why
- The patrol vehicle was protecting a vehicle that had stopped after a puncture. The sources do not state why the van struck it.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
A vehicle stopped after a puncture, and a Vinci Autoroutes patrol vehicle arrived to protect it.
A van hit the patrol vehicle, and its 32-year-old driver was fatally injured.
Two heavy goods vehicles collided at the back of the traffic queue; no one was injured.
Traffic returned to the A10 after vehicles had been routed through one lane during the response.
- Fatality
- Van driver, aged 32
- Date
- 19 October 2026
- Location
- A10, near exit 19 at Parçay-Meslay
- Direction
- Bordeaux to Paris
- Second collision
- Two heavy goods vehicles; no injuries
3 sources
What people are saying
The left and middle lanes were closed to traffic.