• Driver Phillip Whitehouse of West Midlands-based GRD Steels had
Page 21
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
a lucky escape when a steel girder shot off his load and went through his front and rear screens before jamming in the road and shooting back through the roof of his cab.
The bizarre accident happened near the Jamaica Inn on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall. Police could not find fault with the security of the load, which was fastened by two straps and three chains. "Our driver fastens steel so tight, he's bent it in the past," says GRD director George Smith.
But the mystery may be explained, says Smith, by the fact that the steel was shotblasted which produces a smoother surface and lowers its friction. Since the accident he has fitted the truck with a higher headboard to cover the rear window and advises other operators to take similar precautions.
The Hawk is grateful to Mike Gauntlett of Truck Equipment, Bristol, who was on hand to take the picture.