Check handbrake position
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• A Norfolk haulier is warning drivers to check that they have applied their handbrakes correctly after one of his vehicles killed a schoolboy (CM 26 Feb-4 Mar). A driver for Thetford-based Bryan Cater thought he had applied the handbrake on his Volvo FL6 17-tonner. "It didn't drop right in the dead man position, but stayed there, so with the slightest touch the vehicle moved," says proprietor Bryan Cater.
"People should know it's possible," he adds. "I shocked myself when I proved it could happen—I'm more concerned with letting people know about it." Cater applied the handbrake himself in the some way as when the accident happened and took photographs of the brake which were used in court.
Bournemouth Magistrates Court found driver Anthony Wright guilty of parking a vehicle in an unsafe position. He was fined 2200 with three penalty points. The accident happened in Bournemouth last September.
A spokesman for Volvo says the company has not received any complaints or queries over the FL6's handbrake.