the mother of a teenager mowed down by a bus in 2019 files a complaint against Collomb and Keolis
15-year-old Johanna was hit by a bus in January 2019 as she crossed a street considered pedestrian by the Lyon town hall.
“We owe me the truth, I am the first concerned, the collateral victim”, confides Sandrine Barthélémy at the microphone of BFM Lyon this Sunday. Three years after the fatal overthrow of her daughter by a bus, she filed a complaint against the former mayor of Lyon, Gérard Collomb, and the Keolis transport service for involuntary homicide.
On January 16, 2019, 15-year-old Johanna was hit by a bus on rue de la République. Classified by the town hall as a pedestrian street, no pedestrian crossing was traced there but the circulation of buses and taxis was authorized, as related Progress.
“We stole his life and shattered mine. For me, life is over, I survive” assures Sandrine Barthélémy. “Every morning I just go to work part time, go to the cemetery and that’s it. I’m in constant survival, like a wounded animal.”
Sun and blind spots
Since the opening of a judicial investigation three years ago, light has not yet been shed on this case. The bus driver offered several explanations: he assured that he had been dazzled by the sun, that many travelers had gathered at the front of the bus and that the blind spots of the vehicle had prevented him from seeing Johanna who was crossing the road. at that time, call again Progress. The driver was not penalized by Keolis.
Last August, a scenario in the presence of experts in accidentology, and in the absence of the driver and the patient, was organized at the request of the investigating judge.
“The fault is characterized”
This is a new step that is announced with the filing of a complaint by Sandrine Barthélémy with the public prosecutor of Lyon.
“When the mayor, in a municipal decree of 2011, allows the circulation of articulated buses of nearly 20 tons in a pedestrian area without a security system (pedestrian crossings or traffic lights) at a speed of 30 km/h, the fault is characterized” revealed his lawyer Me Jean Sannier to the Progress.
And the complaint filed against Keolis is justified by the driver’s “flagrant lack of training” demonstrated by the fact that he was driving without having good visibility, the lawyer further explained.
The mother of the victim also asked the prosecutor to take an interest in the responsibility of Sytral and the metropolis of Lyon. “I’m really waiting for the truth and for the privilege of seeing all of this before I leave to join my daughter.”