Lorry driver who admitted falling asleep prior to a collision is sentenced

On Monday 19 February, our Roads Policing Unit officers were notified of a single vehicle collision on A12 at the junction 12 exit at Shenfield shortly after 5am.

Upon arrival they saw a loaded HGV had collided with the slip road barrier, damaging a 30-metre section.

The driver was shaken, but thankfully not hurt.

Enquiries at the scene established the driver had momentarily fallen asleep whilst driving westbound on the dual carriage way. The noise of the lorry hitting the barrier woke the articulated lorry driver.

Mihai-florentin Bauer of Hartside Road, Sunderland, appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 19 September where he pleaded guilty to driving without due care. The 44-year-old was issued with 9 penalty points and fined £600 and costs.

Roads Policing Unit Sergeant Chris Bramhill said:

Driving any vehicle takes concentration to handle the mechanics of your car or lorry, to read the road and respond to any developing situation.
We’d encourage any driver to think about their safety before they set off.
If you are already too tired to drive, don’t. It doesn’t bear thinking about if you cause a collision and someone is seriously injured or worse.
Professional drivers’ hours are governed by law so as to prevent driving tired, and we will always ensure that the law is carried out to uphold road safety for all our road users.

Sergeant Jason Dearsley who leads our Commercial Vehicle Unit had this to say.

This case serves as a timely reminder of the need for continued observance and enforcement of drivers’ hours rules regarding rest and breaks.
As we all know ‘tiredness kills’, and when a tired driver is combined with a larger vehicle, the chances of a fatality are greatly increased.
These rules are enforced across the UK and Europe. It is by working alongside responsible drivers, transport managers, operators, and our colleagues in the Driver Vehicle Standards Agency that we all try to prevent this.
Thankfully the engineering provided by the National Highways barrier on this occasion prevented the collision from becoming a tragedy.
Large commercial vehicles criss-cross the country and beyond on a daily basis, keeping the economy running.
Sadly, the Commercial Vehicle Unit (who are qualified transport managers and HGV Class1 drivers) sometimes see drivers’ safety compromised to meet delivery times and the pressure to keep on driving rather than stopping earlier than when their maximum driving time is reached so we continue to work with planners and highway agencies to increase the provision of adequate rest areas away from delivery locations and bases.
If you are being asked to not comply by your transport manager or company then please contact us, confidentially.
Road safety is very much a team effort and together we can make our roads safer for everyone.

This matter has now been referred to the Traffic Commissioners Office.

You can contact the Commercial Vehicle Unit via email.

 

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