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Driver and boss both blamed
Page 6
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and jailed for killer fatigue
• by Jennifer Ball A Suffolk haulier has been jailed for four years after he encouraged employees to break the drivers hours' rules, leading to a fatal smash after one driver fell asleep at the wheel.
Martin Graves, owner of Felixstowebased MJ Graves International, was found guilty of manslaughter following the crash four years ago on the 412 when motorist Lee Fitt, 24, was killed.
During the eight-month case, Basildon Crown Court was told that drivers working for Graves had committed false record offences of epidemic proportions—some drivers committing over 300 offences in a six-month period.
Graves himself committed tachograph offences on almost 40 separate occasions over that same period.
hie also operated a bonus scheme with no upper limits, where drivers were paid 20% of the earnings of the truck; the more work carried out, the more the driver received.
Driver Victor Coates was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving and sentenced to four years.
The court heard that Coates had worked continuously for 20 hours prior to the crash.
He began work at around 4am on 12 December 1999 and carried out deliveries from Felixstowe to Dunstable and Dagenham. At around 4.30pm, he collected his next job from Felixstowe to be delivered to Watford. He began his journey along the 412 but when he got to Kelvedon he stopped his tachograph but continued driving, delivering his load to Watford before beginning his return journey to Felixstowe WM6-11 Feb).
At midnight, Coates arrived at Marks Toy, where Fitt and his girlfriend Sarah Norman had broken down at the side of the road. His truck ploughed Into the rear of the Ford Orion, killing Fitt and injuring Norman (0119-26 Sept 2002.) Essex police said that Coates was travelling at around 50mph at the time of the collision. The car would have been in sight for a possible 53 seconds and was displaying both rear and hazard flashing lights.
Sentencing, Judge Clegg said that driving excessive hours was like playing Russian roulette with the public: "There is an appalling risk that sooner or later, some driver is going to fall asleep with disastrous consequences. Lives cannot be brought back by sentences, nor can they be measured by years [in jail]."
A spokesman for Essex Police says drivers should be aware of the dangers of driving when tired: "We only hope that others will see that the police takes this offence extremely seriously and will do everything within its powers, no matter how long it takes to gather the evidence, to