Driver of fatal accident in Louis-II tunnel at 156 kph, under influence of alcohol and cocaine

The three people in the vehicle died in the accident, which occurred in April.

The events occurrred on the night of 31 March to 1 April. At around 4 am, a vehicle with three people on board caused an accident in the Louis-II tunnel. According to the police’s initial findings, the driver “lost control of the vehicle, which then crossed the white line before crashing violently into the concrete wall near the Rainier III Auditorium.” As a result of the impact, the vehicle caught fire and the three passengers died, despite the efforts of the fire brigade.

New evidence has come to light over three months later. The Public Prosecutor’s Office first confirmed the identity of the three men on board: a Frenchman and two Swiss men, all in their thirties. Two of them worked in Monaco’s banking sector. One of the victims lived in the Principality, another in Switzerland and the third in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region.

A month in prison for drink-driving in Monaco

But the courts also revealed the circumstances of the accident: the driver was travelling at a speed of 156 kph as he rounded a bend in the tunnel, and at 148 km/h at the moment of impact.

The man was also under the influence of alcohol, with a blood level of 1.76 g/l. As a reminder, the legal limit is 0.50 g/l. According to the information we were given, the driver had also taken cocaine before getting behind the wheel.