Sounds to me like they actually don’t have much to go on and are roping as many people into court as they can in the hope of making something stick.
I was in bath on Thursday, didn’t come in on the hill in question but an equally long and steep one leading down to Prior Garden centre on the left. I just put it in manual 4 and let the engine regulate the speed with a little on off braking as required. Can see how an inexperienced driver would be braking the whole way down. Just because you’re told modern vehicles can be driven like this doesn’t mean it’s the best way, better to trust to your instincts and what your dad told you to do.
My Dad told me to listen at school Tris.
And because I didn’t, I am driving trucks.
eagerbeaver:
My Dad told me to listen at school Tris.And because I didn’t, I am driving trucks.
I m not trying to minimise this terrible situation but I feel sorry for the lad. I m a class one uk driver from the 1970s and a class one alberta Canada driver since the 80 s. I ve run lots of mountains. In the late 1990 s I almost had a run away on ten mile hill east of golden british Columbia I was carrying 40000 litres of petrol . I got her down the hill but couldn’t see the road behind me for dense smoke from the trailer brakes . faulty trailer brakes and an ineffective jake brake were the cause my approach speed was ok and there was nothing I d missed at pretrip I d never driven this tractor before this day either.I was in my 40 s at the time with lots of experience I could have easily ended up in the same legal predicament this lad is in.
Correct me if I m wrong but there is nothing in your HGV training which teaches mountain or hill driving. I did my HGV in Leeds in 1974 all my training was on flat land with an unladen truck. Over here it is basically the same but there are driving schools which offer mountain training most companies want let you near the mountains until you have shown your ability in these condition
It seems incredible that a new driver was allowed to take a 32 ton gross tipper into terrain like this 4 days after passing his test.
robinswh:
I m not trying to minimise this terrible situation but I feel sorry for the lad. I m a class one uk driver from the 1970s and a class one alberta Canada driver since the 80 s. I ve run lots of mountains. In the late 1990 s I almost had a run away on ten mile hill east of golden british Columbia I was carrying 40000 litres of petrol . I got her down the hill but couldn’t see the road behind me for dense smoke from the trailer brakes . faulty trailer brakes and an ineffective jake brake were the cause my approach speed was ok and there was nothing I d missed at pretrip I d never driven this tractor before this day either.I was in my 40 s at the time with lots of experience I could have easily ended up in the same legal predicament this lad is in.
Correct me if I m wrong but there is nothing in your HGV training which teaches mountain or hill driving. I did my HGV in Leeds in 1974 all my training was on flat land with an unladen truck. Over here it is basically the same but there are driving schools which offer mountain training most companies want let you near the mountains until you have shown your ability in these condition
It seems incredible that a new driver was allowed to take a 32 ton gross tipper into terrain like this 4 days after passing his test.
Agree with all of that. He hadn’t just passed his test 4 days earlier, he’d passed his class 1 just before this happened.
Trial starts today …bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-38054417
I had to drive down that road again today. Absolutely hate it. Jut thinking about what has happened and what could happen again isn’t a nice thought.
The truth is coming out:- bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-38066824.
As suspected, it seems that a combination of heavy load, steep hill but most of all, ultimately IMO, failed brakes caused this tragedy. All the other factors led to this “accident waiting to happen”. I find it hard to blame the young driver as long as his driving was otherwise fine. After all, how do you, the driver, fully know the state of your vehicle unless you service it. If the young guy had been in the other vehicle he, personally, wouldn’t have been held responsible at all. Whether it was cost, laziness or incompetence, it never ultimately pays to cut corners.
Snudger:
After all, how do you, the driver, fully know the state of your vehicle unless you service it.
He would of used his brakes several more times previously that day so surely at some point he must have thought something ain’t right with these brakes unless being so young he didn’t realise.
“Carrying 30 tonnes” nice Daily Fail reporting.
“Loading from a Wiltshire quarry” they probably were underweight. The main shovel driver at Shorncote couldn’t load a water pistol.
bald bloke:
Snudger:
After all, how do you, the driver, fully know the state of your vehicle unless you service it.He would of used his brakes several more times previously that day so surely at some point he must have thought something ain’t right with these brakes unless being so young he didn’t realise.
…or carried on regardless, wanting to impress his employers - also a mistake. I thought it might be a sudden catastrophic brake failure brought on by the extreme circumstances, despite the poor maintenance. Also thought he would possibly have been called a hero had he rear-ended the lorry in front in order to stop, only we would never have heard his side of the story.
bald bloke:
Snudger:
After all, how do you, the driver, fully know the state of your vehicle unless you service it.He would of used his brakes several more times previously that day so surely at some point he must have thought something ain’t right with these brakes unless being so young he didn’t realise.
Just been watching our local news, the reporter saying that so far, maintenance over a period of 10 months was’nt up to spec and that only 2 brakes were anywhere near efficient on that tipper.
It’s a poor article, focusing on the the mileage that will sound like star ship mileage to average Joe car drivers. Saying they both had 30t loads on, I’d think that’d be the gross otherwise surely that would have been jumped on as a massive overload. Saying to the driver you’re inexperienced and only been at the company a master of days, that applies to 99.9% of all drivers when they started out.
When I take our trailers for inspection I don’t ever remember putting them on the brake rollers, only on the pre mot
stevieboy308:
It’s a poor article, focusing on the the mileage that will sound like star ship mileage to average Joe car drivers. Saying they both had 30t loads on, I’d think that’d be the gross otherwise surely that would have been jumped on as a massive overload. Saying to the driver you’re inexperienced and only been at the company a master of days, that applies to 99.9% of all drivers when they started out.When I take our trailers for inspection I don’t ever remember putting them on the brake rollers, only on the pre mot
… had 30t loads on… That’s the media for ya!
simon1958:
Just been watching our local news, the reporter saying that so far, maintenance over a period of 10 months was’nt up to spec and that only 2 brakes were anywhere near efficient on that tipper.
Shades of Sowerby Bridge there then. All will be revealed in due course though.
Pete.
stevieboy308:
It’s a poor article, focusing on the the mileage that will sound like star ship mileage to average Joe car drivers. Saying they both had 30t loads on, I’d think that’d be the gross otherwise surely that would have been jumped on as a massive overload. Saying to the driver you’re inexperienced and only been at the company a master of days, that applies to 99.9% of all drivers when they started out.When I take our trailers for inspection I don’t ever remember putting them on the brake rollers, only on the pre mot
I thought the reports seemed a bit obsessed with the mileage, but most member of the public don’t realise how many miles the average truck does in a year. I know where I worked they where amazed when I said the truck was about to go over 1 million Kms and it’s still going.
The last 2 places I’ve worked both trucks and trailers get a brake test at each inspection.
"muckles:
The last 2 places I’ve worked both trucks and trailers get a brake test at each inspection.
All safety inspections should cover all items in the MOT including roller brake testing. A lot of operators don’t bother
There are 3 things that I would like to see come out of this. The minimum age needs to go back up as I don’t feel that a 19 year old has enough driving experience in a car, let alone a LGV. Secondly, far more robust inspections of O licence holders.
And last but not least, a review on how tipper drivers are paid because my understanding is that there are ‘bonus incentives’ involved in the wage structure, and let’s be honest-the majority of tipper drivers drive like complete pricks.