The investigation for manslaughter opened against X following the fatal collision in July 2019 on the Avenay-Val-d'Or level crossing between a train and a car was closed, announced the prosecution of Reims Thursday November 26.
Read also: After the fatal accident, no more school buses on the Avenay-Val-d'Or level crossing
The accident, which occurred on July 15, 2019 between a Regional Express Train connecting Epernay to Reims and a car left four dead: the driver of the car, a childminder, her 10-year-old daughter and two children aged 3 and 10 months that she was accompanying.
For prosecutor Matthieu Bourrette, “
the certain and unique cause of the accident is the behavior
” of the driver of the vehicle “
who crossed the lowered barrier of the level crossing in normal operating condition, driving at low speed and without act on the brakes
”.
"
The classification without follow-up is not a stop to the affair
", reacted with AFP the lawyer of two of the three families of victims, including that of the driver, Me Gérard Chemla "
We are considering to seize an examining magistrate within the framework of a complaint with constitution of civil party
”, he indicated.
According to the prosecutor, the investigation could not establish whether the conduct of the driver "
was the consequence of a misconduct (...) or the result of a possible discomfort
" related to taking medication.
The prosecution's investigation ruled out the hypothesis of a voluntary act by the driver as well as a malfunction of the level crossing.
"
We dismiss these testimonies in a way too light
"
On possible malfunctions, "
a call for witnesses made it possible to collect the testimony of 17 people
" specified the prosecutor.
"
These testimonies were submitted to the railway expert who showed that some of them were not consistent while others were the result of a lack of understanding of the normal functioning of the level crossing
", he added. he adds.
"
We dismiss these testimonies in a way too light
", estimated Me Chemla, deploring a lack of "
answers
", in particular on the fact that "
the automatic detection of obstacle was not triggered in the computer of the vehicle
"And on the"
incomprehensible
"
drug dosage
of the driver.
In its report, concluding that the "
direct cause of the accident is the non-stop of the light vehicle at the closed level crossing
", the Transport Accident Investigation Bureau noted "
the presence in the body of the carrier of a drug in toxic dose
”which“
very probably played a role in the occurrence of the accident
”.
