Questions asked as speeding suspended driver kills French cyclist in “125mph” hit-and-run crash after hiring Lamborghini without valid driving licence

Questions have been raised in France after a motorist was able to hire a powerful Lamborghini sports car, despite not holding a valid driving licence, before hitting and killing a cyclist while speeding.

The fatal collision took place at around 1pm on 1 September in Avignon, in southwestern France’s Provence region, as the 25-year-old motorist was driving at “high speed” on the departmental RD907 road outside the city often used by cyclists, and at “well over” the 70kph speed limit, according to French police and several witnesses.

The driver then violently collided with the cyclist, a 51-year-old high school maintenance worker, dragging him for several metres and killing him instantly. Some reports, including from the victim’s family, have claimed that the motorist was travelling at 200kph (around 125mph) at the time of the shocking crash.

The 25-year-old, along with his 16-year-old sister, who was a passenger in the vehicle, abandoned the damaged Lamborghini and fled the scene on foot, TF1 reports.

Avignon : une Lamborghini tue un cycliste, le conducteur et sa passagère en garde à vue
➡️ https://t.co/OFqxriwY04 pic.twitter.com/nxlktAPQ8v

— Le Parisien | faits divers (@leparisien_fdiv) September 2, 2024

However, later that afternoon, the motorist – who according to local reports is “well known” to police and has previous convictions mostly related to drugs-related offences – handed himself in voluntarily to a police station in Avignon, where he tested negative for drugs and alcohol, though toxicological analysis is currently being carried out to ascertain whether he was under the influence at the time of the crash.

Nevertheless, it was also revealed that the motorist had hired the car without a driving licence, which is currently suspended until December following a previous unspecified driving offence.

Earlier this week, the 25-year-old was charged with involuntary manslaughter, with two aggravating circumstances: hit and run and driving despite the suspension of his driving licence. He remains in custody and under French law faces a maximum sentence of ten years in prison and a €150,000 fine.

His 16-year-old sister has also been charged with failing to assist a person in danger.

> Calls for tougher action against people who drive while banned

The tragic collision, and the circumstances around it, has since fuelled speculation in France surrounding the means by which the motorist was able to hire a car, let alone a powerful sports car such as a Lamborghini, despite being banned from driving.

Reports suggest that the 25-year-old did not hire the car through a rental company’s website, but through social media, and in doing so used his existing licence without disclosing that it was suspended.

According to Michel Benezra, a lawyer specialising in road traffic law, the motorist may quite easily have misled the hire car company by simply handing them his physical licence.

“A driver who has had his driving license suspended, but who has not immediately handed it over to the authorities, keeps his licence physically, even if he does not have the right to drive,” Benezra told TF1.

“And from there, he will be able to go and rent a vehicle with complete peace of mind, since the rental company will not have access to information that is confidential.”

However, other theories have linked the rental to an illegal Europe-wide luxury hire car practice, in which high-value sports cars – most likely stolen – are transported across the continent, registered with false number plates, and hired out cash-in-hand for large sums.

According to La Provence, the Lamborghini involved in the fatal collision in Avignon had a German licence plate.

“But all this is very well known,” a local garage owner, who sells luxury cars, told the newspaper. “You just have to go out and open your eyes. In big cities or even elsewhere, who has not been confronted with these scenes of big sports cars parading in the streets or on the roads with drivers who do not hesitate to block traffic?

“Do you really believe that these are cars kindly rented in accordance with the standards from a licenced dealer? We have to face the truth.

“We are dealing with irresponsible people who defy all laws, neglect all safety rules, and drive at full speed.”

Rachid (photo supplied by his family)

Earlier this week, Renaud Muselier, president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, paid tribute to the cyclist killed, a 51-year-old known as Rachid, who worked at the Frédéric-Mistral high school in Avignon.

“Today, we lose a man known and appreciated by the students of the establishment as well as by his colleagues, his death affects the entire Avignon educational community,” Muselier said in a statement.

“On behalf of the Region, I offer my condolences to his family and send my thoughts to his work colleagues, as well as to the high school students who worked with him on a daily basis and appreciated him deeply!”

A fundraiser to support Rachid’s family has so far raised almost €5,000.