News Qbenz13: the motorcycle youtuber is in trouble with the law.

Yesterday, the Vaucluse Gendarmerie announced on its Facebook page an operation targeting youtuber Qbenz13, also known as Bikelife.

He is accused of several offenses

The principle of youtubers is often to get noticed in order to stand out. For example, many motorcycle test riders don't hesitate to show off their sporting skills in their videos. Excessive speed concealed by blurred screens, wheeling, etc., etc. All practices more or less tolerated under the aegis of information, but in this case, the forces of law and order no longer appreciate the genre.

In France, the law is clear: wheeling is forbidden. A recent decree (no. 2024-528 of June 10, 2024) prohibits wheeling on public roads. The penalty for such practices is a fine of 68 euros and the loss of two points on the driver's license.

Excessive speed is very easy for the police to calculate, even if you think you've hidden your speedometer. Depending on the motorcycle, the homologation already gives the maximum speeds according to the gears engaged. When a youtuber breaks in the bottom of a 3 on a Superbike, you don't need to be a prophet to know that he's well over the 80 km/h speed limit on the road. What's more, with a few formulas and tools, the police can also calculate the distance travelled and therefore the speed from images.

Why do they do this? A context of urban rodeos

The number of urban rodeo incidents in France has soared to the point that the government has made it a matter of public safety. Numerous incidents have ended badly in recent times, culminating in the violent attack on a mayor in Gironde 15 days ago.

And all the political camps are unanimous in this fight, as also proved by the recent outing of Eric Coquerel (LFI deputy) who denounced the influence of Tom Cruise's stunts in the Mission Impossible saga as an influence on young people for urban rodeos.

Qbenz13 is paying for his excesses (which is logical when one commits offenses) but is undoubtedly an example that Justice wants to make. You can't film yourself doing anything and everything and publish videos on social networks or platforms like Youtube.

Double penalty for concealed work

But the case could have ended there. But his placement in the Gendarmerie's sights for traffic offences also enabled the Gendarmes to discover that the youtuber had forgotten to declare his activities/income.

According to information published by the Gendarmerie du Vaucluse, Qbenz13 failed to declare revenues from the sale of products bearing his likeness, amounting to around 1 million euros. The public lynching goes even further, as the police state that, at the same time, both Qbenz13 and his partner were receiving welfare benefits.

Part of his assets were seized, including various items of clothing and flocked accessories intended for sale, as well as professional equipment: 2 presses, 1 cutting machine, 1 computer and 2 marquees.

Qbenz13 also lost motorcycles including 2 Suzuki Gsx-Rr 600, 1 GSX-R 1000, 1 Kawasaki ZX 10 R. All worth around 70,000 euros. These seizures are often intended to be sold to pay off creditors. In this case, it's the state for taxes not recovered in relation to undeclared income, or social benefits that perhaps shouldn't have been collected.

Information has often become entertainment for the public, but in this case, we're going to have to find a new format. Many youtubers must be trembling behind their screens, and are no doubt thinking of deleting their content, because what happened to one could well happen to others.

Image credits: Gendarmerie du Vaucluse