First in France: an induced accusation spoke in a file linked to the Takata airbags, whose failures are in the heart of an industrial scandal, that of an automotive distributor on the island of the meeting suspects not having done enough to warn the car’s victim.
The airbag scandal of the former Japanese business Takata, responsible for many fatal accidents worldwide due to explosions during harmless clashes, has experienced incessant turns and turns for more than ten years.
In France, at least 18 people would have died. From a new reminder at the end of June, 1.7 million vehicles have been attacked by a prohibition to circulate until the system is replaced.
Investigations are gradually grouped into the hands of Parisian investigating judges, seized with suspicion of aggravated deception and endangering the lives of others, while several complaints have been filed.
“Do not remember”
Until then, the accusation had not been made public. But according to a source close to the archive to the AFP, in Saint-Pierre de la Reion, on March 27, a investigating judge accused the Leal Reunion distributor, who disputes his responsibility, for a manifestly deliberate violation of an obligation of security or prudence that caused a total inability to work greater than three months.
In detail, loyal meeting is criticized for not “remembering or withdrawing a BMW 318i, while the airbag installed in it presented a defect that could cause injuries or even death.”
This questioning is linked to a traffic accident on May 6, 2020, during which a motorist, who filed a complaint, was a victim of serious injuries, especially in the face, caused by the airbag gas explosion and the projection of objects.
“We decided to wait”
During his interrogation on March 27, that AFP was aware, a loyal leader, an “official circuit” for the sale of BMW vehicles on the island, he explained that he has gradually tried, after an alert to the manufacturer at the end of 2019 about the danger of airbags, to warn the holders of the cars of this brand.
But at that time, said loyal, the danger “was not clearly established” and “people do not necessarily agree to block their vehicle.”
“We decided to wait,” added the leader, and also emphasized that the confinement linked to the Covid-19 epidemic had frozen everything in the spring of 2020.
The judge questions: “The motorist declares that he has never received an email or a phone call.” “It’s true,” replies the leader. “The truth is that no (his) coordinated.”
Loyal explained that the BMW distribution circuit of a competitor that would not have transmitted its client file, which complicates its “great task” that consists of joining thousands of motorists would have been recovered in 2013. However, it emphasizes loyal, the vehicle involved in the accident was purchased in 2001 and changed hands several times.
“Inertia”
The judicial experience attends this defense, believing that Leal has really begun to warn BMW’s headlines that “since July 2020, after the accident.” This “inertia” would have created a “loss of luck for the applicant,” according to the expert.
“It is easy to rebuild the world, we have done everything possible,” sweeps the leader, claiming that “he was not crossed.”
According to the source close to the Archive, the Saint-Denis Court of Appeals was seized on Tuesday of an investment application of Leal Meeting under the most favorable state of assisted witnesses.
In addition to several procedural arguments, Me Guillaume Martine, one of the company’s lawyers, “intends to demonstrate that loyal meeting has implemented all possible diligence to prevent accidents from arising, taking into account weak knowledge, at that time, of the danger of defective air bags.”
“Several obstacles that existed, even by public authorities that later mobilized significantly less than they are today,” added the Council, while loyal meeting claims to have requested state access to the data of the vehicle registration system (SIV).
In parallel, the UFC -quir announced on Tuesday, July 22 that it launched a group action addressed to the Stellantis car manufacturer to claim the payment of the compensation of vehicle owners equipped with Takata Airbags The issue of forced immobilization.
Source: BFM TV
