COMMENT
Page 37
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
News broke this week that Yorkshire Haulage Company Fewston Transport Ltd—and its directors were not to be prosecuted for serious offences following the Sowerby Bridge tragedy.
There has been considerable media speculation that the company would be charged with corporate manslaughter and that its directors would also be charged.
The result will be a relief to Fewston Transport but should be a salutory warning to all directors, operators, transport managers and senior employees of transport companies.
if accidents occur due to faulty maintenance, companies and senior employees will always find themselves in the frame; not just for offences under the Construction and Use Regulations, but also for offences which will carry sentences of imprisonment. However unfair this may seem, it reflects increasing public awareness of the potential danger of large goods vehicles.
Operators would be well advised to examine their maintenance procedures and if they haven't already done so invest in the Department of Transport's Guide to Road Vehicle Maintenance.