Fatal series of tractor accidents in Haute-Loire: six people were killed in six months in this department, during accidents involving poorly secured agricultural machinery.
The latest victim, a 68-year-old man, was killed on Monday afternoon in Vergongheon, near Brioude, after losing control of his forestry tractor.
The machine would have bit the verge and then rolled over several times to finish its race on this very steep terrain.
The driver, a retired operator, was "ejected from the vehicle while it was hurtling down the slope," explains the daily La Montagne.
Despite the rapid arrival of a neighbor and then emergency services dispatched to the scene with a civil security helicopter, the sixty-year-old could not be revived.
In July, the operator of an agricultural machine died in similar circumstances, as well as the 12-year-old boy who accompanied him, in this department of 220,000 inhabitants.
"This is causing a lot of victims and that should call on the authorities", commented a representative of the departmental fire and rescue service of Haute-Loire.
Strengthen prevention
The same scenario is repeated: the tractor without a cab or roll bar - although this is mandatory for all models, old or new - tilts on its side or turns over, most often with an exit fatal.
Despite the modernization of the tractor fleet and the law which imposes protection for the driver since 2010, this scenario remains the leading cause of fatal accidents among farmers.
Faced with what he describes as a “hecatomb”, the president of the Haute-Loire Chamber of Agriculture, Yannick Fialip, suggests strengthening preventive actions, with State services and insurers around the world agricultural.
Newsletter - Most of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le Parisien
I'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to enable you to receive our news and commercial offers.
Learn more
These accidents, which most often occur outside the road network, on private land, without the intervention of a third party, "constitute a disturbance to public order for which a response is necessary", judges for his part the prosecutor. of the Republic in Puy-en-Velay, Nicolas Rigot-Muller.
