Staffordshire HGV firm owner banned after crash left pedestrian with life-changing injuries
The boss of an ‘extraordinarily negligent’ firm that used unroadworthy vehicles, one of which caused a crash and life-changing injuries for a pedestrian, has been banned from operating for eight years.
The HGV involved in the crash was found to have 18 defects and was described by an expert as one of the ‘top ten worst’ he had ever seen in 30 years.
Nick Denton, the region’s traffic commissioner, concluded that Gavin Bentley, the sole director of Midland Poling Services, based at Lower Drayton, Penkridge, took ‘little interest’ in the safety of his company’s HGVs and said the firm had a culture where vehicle safety was ‘routinely ignored’.
The industry regulator added the firm, which put up and replaced telegraph poles, deserved to go out of business, and he revoked its operating licence.
Mr Denton said: “Mr Bentley’s attitude in the inquiry was of a man who had been let down by those around him – his supervisor, his maintainer, his driver.
"It does not seem to have occurred to him that the responsibility lies with him as director and that he wholly failed to establish the necessary culture of safety within the company.”
Midland Poling was the subject of a police investigation in September 2016 when one of its vehicles was involved in a serious collision in Falmouth that left a pedestrian with serious injuries.
During April’s inquiry in Birmingham, Mr Denton heard about an investigation carried out by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency after the crash.
Numerous issues were reported regarding the company’s maintenance procedures, including that regular vehicle safety inspections were not being completed on time and defects on vehicles were not being acted upon.
The DVSA officer also issued a critical safety notice to one of the vehicles because of mechanical defects.
A police officer who saw the HGV after the 2016 crash told the traffic commissioner it was in the top ten worst he had seen in his 30-year career.
Mr Denton found the company had been ‘extraordinarily negligent’, adding that after the crash another vehicle was also found to have similar defects.
“The failures stemmed from a systematic failure by the company to treat maintenance with the seriousness it deserved,” he said.
Mr Bentley’s eight year ban takes effect from Saturday, May 13.
