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Howell maintenance risks 0-licence loss
Page 4
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• A South Wales operator fined 130,000 for serious health and safety breaches after its truck was involved in a fatal pile-up on the M5 motorway, may now lose its Operator's Licence. TG Howell. which holds a restricted licence, has been called before the Welsh Traffic Commissioner David Dixon over ongoing maintenance issues.
The company was taken to court last summer following the five-vehicle smash on the Avonmouth bridge in September 2000 where its truck ran into the back of a Rover Metro, killing the occupants.
The company and works manager Martin Howell were found guilty of two counts of breaking health and safety iegislation—over a 15-month period, it had failed to make regular six-weekly checks on its trucks. The firm was fined 2.30,000 plus 212,000 costs, and Howell was fined 25,000 with 23,000 costs.
Sentencing, Mr Justice Maurice Kay said they had taken an "approach that was cavalier and careless" towards their mainte
nance obligations, and described this as a "lamentable failure" ( CM1B-24 July 02).
"The essence was that the company created an unacceptable risk to other road users over a considerable period of time," he added. "The motive was to keep the vehicles on the road at all costs while they could be earning for the company."
The Company's driver David Morris was also banned from driving for 12 months and fined 81,000 after pleading guilty to dangerous driving.