PARIS - The Swedish car-maker Volvo has been placed under French criminal investigation for manslaughter, accused of covering up a defect in the brakes of one of its models.
The case - the first action of its kind against a car-maker in France - arises from a road accident in Alsace
two years ago when two children were crushed to death by a Volvo 850 TDI when it collided with a parked car and a shop front.
A preliminary investigation has concluded that the accident was caused not by driver error, as first believed, but by a catastrophic failure of the car's brakes.
Gabriel Stéfanus, an investigating magistrate in Saverne, near Strasbourg, believes that Volvo - famed for its safety record - was aware of a serious problem in the braking system of 180,000 similar cars, sold all over the world.
Instead of recalling them, it allegedly sent inadequate instructions to its dealerships to correct the fault when cars came in for normal servicing.
The president of Volvo France, Dirk Pissens, was placed under formal investigation formanslaughter after his summons by the magistrate.
The company denies negligence and says there is no proof the accident was caused by faulty brakes.
"Technically, no failing in the braking system has been proved and there is no indication of a link between a failure of our product and the accident," the company said.
The crash on 17 June 1999 remains the subject of great controversy and bitterness in the small town of Wasselonne, near Strasbourg.
The driver of the car, Catherine Khotz, 50 - a wealthy woman married to a a German vet Hartmut Khotz - is still blamed by many local people for the deaths of the two 10-year-old children, who came from relatively poor families.
Mrs Khotz has received anonymous death threats accusing her of using her being a "bourgeois assassin" and of using her wealth and influence to escape blame.
Her marriage to a German in a region with bitter memories of two occupations has not helped. The owner of a newsagent's shop damaged in the crash toldLibération newspaper: "When you have money you can buy anything, including the justice system. A poor person would never have been able to cause these problems for Volvo ... You have to be the wife of a German."
Originally, Mrs Khotz was arrested and placed under investigation for manslaughter. But the investigating magistrate was unconvinced by the evidence against her.
- INDEPENDENT
PARIS - The Swedish car-maker Volvo has been placed under French criminal investigation for manslaughter, accused of covering up a defect in the brakes of one of its models.
The case - the first action of its kind against a car-maker in France - arises from a road accident in Alsace
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