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Thomas Hoffmann
Published on
6 oct. 2024 à 20h36
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May those responsible for the death of his son finally be convicted. This is the fight that has been going on for six years Chahra-Zad Bennabti who on June 8, 2018 had lost Ismaël, 4 years old, “my little prince, as he liked to be called” in a terrible elevator accident in Côté Seine shopping center in Argenteuil. That day, the family was getting out of the cabin when the elevator fell suddenly almost two meterstrapping young Ismaïl in the chest. He died on the spot before the eyes of his helpless mother and her other son Nathan, then aged 6. “An immeasurable pain” accentuated by this interminable wait for justice to be done while the judicial investigation continues against a backdrop of expert battles while five elevator operators were indicted in 2022.
“We live every day with this trauma and with the injustice of knowing that those who were supposed to protect our lives, in particular those of our little princes, continue to act without being recognized responsible,” denounces this devastated but combative mother. Following the death of her son, she created the Adva association (Association for the Defense of Elevator Victims) “to carry the voice of all victims like Ismaïl, of all families devastated by negligence, recklessness, serious failings”, she underlines with the hope that a law “which will protect the victims and the people who use elevators every day will be adopted. A law that will establish clear and strict measures to guarantee the safety of infrastructure, but also so that real sanctions are taken against negligent companies.”
“Guarantee compensation for victims”
A hope heard by Paul Vannier of Lfi deputy for the 5th constituency of Val-d’Oise. Thursday September 26, after eighteen months of discussions and work with Chahra-Zad Bennabti, the elected official tabled a bill aimed at recognizing the victims of elevator accidents and guaranteeing them compensation. Inspired by the Badinter law of 1985 which made it possible to establish the system of no-fault liability following road accidents, “my law makes the owners of the elevator responsible”, summarizes the deputy who notes a legal vagueness surrounding cases of accidents which occur in elevators in France, “even though it is the most used mode of transport every day. It is 100 million journeysand yet the people who use these elevators are poorly protected,” denounces the MP. The elected official thus points to “an aging fleet, more than 50% of elevators being over 25 years old […] in an elevator maintenance market dominated by four groups which make profits of around a billion euros for each of them.”
“The reign of irresponsibility”
Profits made at the expense of user security. “It is the search for profits which is the cause of maintenance defects, of breakdowns, which will sometimes result in accidents”, estimates the parliamentarian who thus assures that there is “2,000 to 3,000 elevator accidents each year in France, and unfortunately one death per year. These are children, like Ismaïl, teenagers, but also maintenance workers.”
He notes that at present “actors in the sector are escaping their responsibility” with in particular the recourse to “cascades of subcontractors. This dilution of responsibility creates the reign of irresponsibility. And currently, it is up to the victims to prove the responsibility of the elevator manufacturer or the owner of the elevator. A very difficult journey with expertise, counter-expertise… which is what Chahra-Zad Bennabti is currently experiencing. And in the end, no one is threatened.”
A situation which the MP intends to put an end to with this bill which “will require elevator owners, being recognized as responsible, to take out insurance to guarantee compensation for victims. It then remains for them to turn against the elevator companies and their subcontractors, if necessary. » A duty which would also apply to social landlords.
Beyond the legal framework in the context of accidents, Paul Vannier also targets the repeated breakdowns of elevators in buildings “which causes the isolation of tenants in the social housing stock. This is a particular injustice. My law also aims to trigger a virtuous circle, because if owners are more responsible, they will maintain the elevators better and therefore there will be fewer breakdowns and fewer accidents.”
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