Auxerre english summary

At around 6:10 p.m. on 14 December 2010, on the road through the hamlet of Jonches in the municipality of Auxerre in the département of Yonne, a coach travelling on the RN 77 trunk road and carrying around thirty passengers, which had stopped just after level crossing no. 19 on the Auxerre to Laroche – Migennes railway, was hit by a TER Regional Express Train from Auxerre Saint-Gervais station.
17 people were injured in this collision, one seriously. All were passengers in the coach.

The direct cause of the accident was the unexpected stopping of the coach on the way out of the level crossing, in a position that encroached on the rail tracks.

Two factors played a decisive role in this situation :
 The indiscipline of two coach passengers, which caught the driver’s attention and forced him to make an emergency stop in order to separate the belligerents and restore calm to the vehicle
 A mistake in evaluating the actual position of the coach, which was partly due to the difficulty of identifying the exact area of the level crossing at night.

The analysis of this accident led the BEA-TT to issue the following recommendations and suggestions on :
 Maintaining the discipline of pupils transported by coach
 Defining the area occupied by level crossing no. 19 in the hamlet of Jonches in Auxerre, and the area around it, by means of road markings.
 Raising coach drivers’ awareness of the lengthwise dimensions of their vehicle, particularly in exceptional or emergency situations.