• Discharged over disconnected brake sum
Page 27
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Cranleigh Freight Services and one of its drivers have been granted an absolute discharge for using a vehicle with defective brakes.
Vehicles examiner Stephen Carey told Lewes magistrates that an arctic belongng to the company, and driven by Peter Nias, had been stopped in a roadside check on the A27 last September. Having found that the yellow service brake suzie was not connected, Carey imposed an immediate prohibition for a significant maintenance failure. The driver then connected the suzie and he lifted the prohibition.
In his opinion, the situation could only have occurred if the driver had failed to connect the suzie properly at the beginning of the journey.
In reply to Jonathan Lawton, defending, Carey said that the driver would have been aware that there was no service brake when the trailer was loaded but, given that it was a three-axled tractor, not if the trailer was empty, which it was. He had endorsed the prohibition "S" for a significant maintenance failure as the driver could not have carried out his daily walk round check properly.
Nias said he had connected the unit and trailer and tested the brakes by driving the vehicle in the yard. He had been satisfied that the trailer brakes were properly connected and working. He then delivered the load and walked round the outfit again. He had been satisfied that the connection was good before setting off on the return journey. There had been nothing ddring that journey to suggest that the suzie was disconnected.
Lawton said it was impossible to say when and where the suzie became disconnected, or whether it had occurred on the road. It might even have occurred as the vehicle was driven into the check site.
The magistrates granted an absolute discharge but ordered the company and Nias to pay costs of 8300 and 2100 respectively.