Crushed driver released brake
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• A Shropshire driver was killed by his own truck after he had released the handbrake to allow it to roll for ward. Emphraim Aldridge died instantly from multiple injuries as his Mercedes 814 rolled down a slight slope and crushed him against a gate, a West Bromwich inquest heard last week.
He is believed to have jumped out of his cab and then reached inside to release the handbrake so that the lorry could move enough to allow the doors at the factory to close.
Sandwell North Coroner David Prichard recorded a verdict of accidental death at the inquest. The three previous hearings had been adjourned to allow for further evidence.
The managing director of Mike Thomas Meats in Tipton, West Midlands, where the delivery on 3 March took place, said he had found the handbrake "sloppy". But a vehicle inspector found no fault with the mechanism.