Horns blaring, cars decked out in festive décor, and the joy of a Sunday wedding on the A10. In just a few miles, this celebratory tableau transformed into a motorized rodeo. Sunday, September 6, 2026, early afternoon, a wedding procession significantly disrupted traffic. A motorcycle and two cars engaged in dangerous maneuvers, triggering a major traffic jam. The gendarmes ultimately halted this sequence on the A10, with four licenses suspended.
The convoy was traveling in the Tours-Paris direction, toward Orléans, when it was reported near Autrèche in Indre-et-Loire. Around 2:00 p.m., multiple calls described zigzags and repeated lane changes within the procession. The officers of the Departmental Traffic Flow Control Squadron (EDCF 37) went on the chase. Because, at heart, this wedding procession on the A10 isn’t merely a nuisance. It also forced the gendarmerie to deploy a setup worthy of a full-blown highway operation.
Rodeos in a Wedding Procession on the A10: From Bottleneck to Forced Escort
According to initial information, the convoy was heading to a community‑style wedding held this Sunday, September 6, 2026. Within the line of cars, a motorcycle and two vehicles began zigzagging between the lanes. The Monnaie-based motorized gendarmes, alerted just after midday, described having “worked their way through the bottleneck created by the participants.” They also noted “the rodeo by a motorcycle and two cars,” reports Actu.fr. The offending behavior created a significant slowdown on the highway, while the authorities caught up with the area. The exact types of vehicles involved were not detailed; no specifics were provided on that point.
Unable to stop the convoy in the middle of the fast lane, the gendarmes chose to escort the entire group. The Indre-et-Loire officers were then backed by the La Chaussée-Saint-Victor motorized squad, in Loir-et-Cher. A helicopter from the Tours gendarmerie air section also tracked the procession from the skies. After a monitored journey, the convoy was finally halted at the Péage de Blois toll plaza in Loir-et-Cher. The intervention lasted nearly three hours, from 2:00 p.m. to about 5:00 p.m., as the participants were identified. In total, 15 people and 15 vehicles in the procession were checked at the toll area.
Four Licenses Revoked, Vehicles Impounded, and a Reminder of the Motorized Rodeo Law
On site, the gendarmes carried out a series of checks on the entire procession, i.e., 15 vehicles. The three riders of the motorcycle and the two cars involved in the dangerous maneuvers saw their licenses immediately retained. Their vehicles were towed, a common measure in this type of case linked to motorized rodeos. The drug screenings conducted on all drivers returned positive, with a fourth license retained. A judicial proceeding has been opened to determine the responsibilities of each participant in this now-law‑enforcement matter.
The facts could fall under the offense of motorized rodeo, provided for in Article L236‑1 of the French Traffic Code. This provision punishes repeated and deliberate maneuvers that endanger others or seriously disturb public tranquillity. Penalties can go up to one year in prison and a €15,000 fine, with harsher penalties for aggravating circumstances. The gendarmerie also used the occasion to remind that “the road is not a circuit,” she emphasized. On the A10, as on other routes, this kind of situation remains in the authorities’ crosshairs.
