Bouafle english summary

On Monday 25 April 2005, at around 1:45 pm, in the municipality of Bouafle, a coach travelling on the right-hand lane of the A 13 motorway in the Paris-Provinces direction left the road, breached the right-hand crash barrier and turned over in a field at the bottom of the embankment, causing the death of three of the sixteen passengers and seriously injuring a fourth. The twelve remaining passengers escaped with minor injuries.

An analysis of this incident made it possible to establish that it was caused directly by the driver dozing off. The investigations performed subsequently, based in particular on the results of the judicial inquiry and the observations made within the scope of the investigation, brought to light three factors in this accident :
- the lack of vigilance, which was the direct cause of the accident, placing further emphasis on the importance of addressing this recurring cause of accidents and setting out preventive measures ;
- the terms under which the driver was recruited, employed and his career supervised, notably as regards his medical fitness to perform the job of heavy goods vehicle or coach driver ;
- lastly, the absence of passenger seatbelts, which once again proved to be an aggravating factor in the consequences suffered.

With respect to these various points, the BEA-TT puts forward two recommendations by way of a conclusion, relating to :
- the medical examinations performed when recruiting bus or coach drivers ;
- risk assessments and driver career supervision.

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