Coroner calls for extra checks
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• A coroner is calling for the laws on checking vehicles maintenance to be tightened after hearing how a couple were killed by a concrete pumping lorry with faulty brakes. David and Iris Parker died when the brakes failed on a Mercedes-Benz 1615 rigid which was fitted with concrete pumping equipment. The truck ploughed head-on into the couple's Vauxhall Carlton on the A31.
An inquest last week was told the accident happened when the lorry tried to brake behind a van which had stopped to turn right. The brakes did not work and the lorry swerved into the opposite carriageway hitting the Parker's car and pushing it across the road.
Recording a verdict of accidental death, Nigel Neville-Jones called For a review of the laws: "I find it totally inconsistent that vehicles of this type do not need to be tested," he said. "I will be investigating the situation.'
A spokesman For the Department of Transport says the vehicle would be classed as engineering plant, so it would not be subject to the same licensing requirements as an LGV.