I tipped a lorry over in early November. It was a windy night, and just after I rounded a bend, a gust caught the front of the unit, put a wheel on the verge, it dragged me in and over it went. The police have put it down to the wind and just called it an accident. At a disciplinary hearing, my work said I should have been aware of the wind, so said it was driver error and sacked me on serious negligence. I’ve been with the firm nearly eight years with no problems and a clean licence throughout. Before the hearing, the only documents they had given me was a tacho analysis, which they later discounted as I picked loads of faults in it. It was only at the hearing that they gave me the photographs of the scene and I still haven’t had a copy of the tacho. I’m appealing on the grounds of not agreeing with the decision as I blame the wind, and also at the disciplinary hearing not being carried out properly.
I’d be interested in anybody’s views.
I would go and sign on with an agency or get another job, then would go and see a solicitor, if the police say it was down to the wind i say they are being unreasonable, have you caused trouble before or are they trying to cut down on staff ?
A driver at my old place turned an empty artic on its side a year or so ago and he’s still there…Its one of those things IMO and surely thats what insurance is for to cover accidents so other than the inconvenience of losing a vehicle for a while i cant understand why they are taking such a grim view on you…Seems very unfair to me i’d get a solicitor on to it if i was you surely as your not working you would get some form of legal aid
british bakeries in eastleigh had 3 rigids written off in less than a year before they sacked the driver who smashed them up AND HE WAS AGENCY!!!
this is not a go at agency drivers. im just pointing out the fact that they kept him there even though they had no responsibilities to him with regards to employment. they could have banned him after the first one but they didnt
If you are going to blame the wind then you are going to back it up with facts.
The best way is to contact the Meterogical Service. They have offices at probably all regional airports, and request a copy of data for the day/period of the accident from the recording apparatus nearest the scene of the accident.
They are normally quite helpful, but if you have to, apply using the Freedom of Information Act.
The next enquiry should be to establish the weather forecast for that day. Again, the Met Office should help, but you can also get the information from back copies of newspapers.
Armed with that information you then need to consider the publication Driving at Work which, by implication, infers on any employer a ‘duty of care’ as to the environment in which vehicles are operated. If the conditions/forecast were such that you should not have been driving a vehicle of that size/type, they the employer must share part of the blame.
Thanks for the replies. We are getting figures from the Met office and I have a traffic cop on my side, confirming that this piece of road is very prone to gusty winds. My solicitor is now on the case and she’s very interested in the fact that my employer (well…ex employer) has a policy of instant dismissal for tipping a wagon. It would be interesting to hear if any other firms have this blanket rule.