The car accident that claimed the lives of five children on Monday evening on the A7 in Drôme was caused by the breakdown of the vehicle's turbocharger. These are the first conclusions of the legal expert in mechanics dispatched to the case. This incident then caused the engine of the car to run wild, followed by its conflagration. An extremely rare chain of circumstances, according to Philippe Touzé, automotive engineer and accident expert.
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"Turbocharger ruptures, in the vast majority of cases, it does not degenerate into fire, or loss of braking assistance system," notes the specialist at the microphone of Europe 1. Can a turbocharger s' damage to the point of causing such an accident? "This part is very dependent on general engine maintenance. To keep a turbocharger in good condition, it is necessary to regularly change oil and replace the air and oil filter."
Before the failure, symptoms to identify
Hence the need, before a long journey, to check that the oil level is correct. “Because one of the symptoms of turbocharger failures is loss of power, traces of oil in the air filter or in the exhaust,” explains Philippe Touzé. "Before you break down, there are symptoms you need to know how to identify."
The fact remains that "the turbocharger can perfectly last the whole life of the car from the moment when maintenance is regular". The vehicle involved in the A7 accident should have been revised last May, but with confinement the State had granted a modification of the deadlines, pushing it back to the fall. The occupants of the car were therefore not in violation.