School bus accident in Rochefort in 2016: the driver of the truck sentenced to five years in prison, suspended

The driver of a dump truck, whose tragic error had caused a collision with a school bus, causing the death of six teenagers, on February 11, 2016 in Rochefort (Charente-Maritime), was sentenced Thursday, May 5 to five years suspended prison sentence by the criminal court of La Rochelle.

He was sentenced to five years in prison. « fully covered by a simple deferment », below the requisitions of the prosecution, which had requested a five-year prison sentence accompanied by a probationary sentence of three years. Shortly after the judgment was announced, the 29-year-old young man, diagnosed with post-traumatic stress and under heavy treatment with antidepressants, fell to the ground, seized with discomfort.

“We are coming to an end that will allow everyone to be able to rebuild themselves. The important thing is that justice is done”commented the lawyer for several civil parties, Stéphane Ferry, welcoming a « dignified and remarkable deliberation ». “They took it with serenity, they felt that it was perhaps justified, in any case, that it took into account the objective elements of the file”said Vincent Doutreuwe, lawyer for a family of a dead child.

A « light » deliberation for some parents

This tragedy was one of the most serious child transport accidents in France since that of Beaune in 1982, which killed 53 people (including 44 children). On February 11, 2016 in the morning, in Rochefort, while it was still dark and drizzling, the coach had crossed the road of a dump truck leaving from an Eiffage group warehouse located 800 meters away. .

The side of the coach had been sheared off by the open tailgate of the truck, killing six of the fifteen teenagers on board, five high school students and a college student. Two others had been injured. A few days after the accident, the driver, aged 23, was indicted for homicide and involuntary injury, and left free under judicial supervision.

At the end of six years of proceedings, around forty civil parties had followed the trial of the drama, on March 28 and 29, in a packed room seized by emotion on hearing the story of the lives « destroyed » young survivors and relatives of victims. “We could only be disappointed with what happened. (…) He’s going to go back to his job, we’re all going to go back. We, our pain is eternal, it will not change much for the moment « estimated Jean-Marc Aulier, father of Kévin, who died in the accident, judging the deliberation  » light « .

“This case will haunt me all my life”

In this drama, « the only possible explanation » is that the truck driver « forgot to close [la ridelle] before hitting the road » and to carry out the usual visual checks, underlined the president of the court, Régis France, recalling that the investigation ruled out alcohol, speed, telephone and any failure specific to the dump truck. “This inattention and negligence (…) characterize a simple fault, direct, unique and immediate cause of the dramatic consequences of the accident.he continued in front of the defendant, who remained motionless.

“Without in any way denying the irreparable consequences for the families”the court explained that it took into account the personality of the defendant leading « an honest and upright life »described as « possessed, serious, punctilious and conscientious » by his former colleagues from the construction company Eiffage. As an additional penalty, he will no longer be able to drive heavy goods vehicles for five years. At his trial, crushed by remorse and in tears, the defendant, now an order picker, said he was unable to remember if he had gone up this « cursed tail »before admitting the obvious, confronted with testimonies and expert opinions and to express their « deep regret ».

“This case will haunt me all my life like the others here”, he had said. The young man had appeared alone, in the absence of his ex-employer Eiffage, who benefited from a dismissal, the justice considering that« no breach » safety rules could not be blamed on him. At the time, no standard required dump trucks to be equipped with audible and visual alarms that would have warned the driver. The legislation has since been tightened in 2020.