Crane crash leads to police warning by Nicky Clarke •
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Scottish police are warning operators of vehicles fitted with truck loaders to strap the cranes down following an accident which left an owner-driver critically injured.
Forty-year-old David Mulholland of Penrith, Cumbria, who was on contract to British Gypsum, was driving his Volvo towards Fort William on Thursday 21 January when his truck was involved in a collision with a vehicle carrying a loader on the A82 near Glen Garry As he passed an eight-wheel Foden 4300 fitted with a Hiab loader and brick grab there was a loud bang and the loader appears to have ripped into his cab.
Mulholland, who was trapped in his cab for two hours, says a piece of metal pierced his neck, the roof of his mouth and lodged just below his eye. His hand, now in a metal plate, was imprinted on the steering wheel. The Vehicle Inspectorate says there were "horrendous" winds that night.
The Foden was driven by Andrew Hesling, 27, of Kirk Hill, Inverness. After the bang Hesling says the loader's slewing ram was sticking out the side of his truck.
The Hiab had been tested by an engineering company that morning for insurance purposes, says Hesling, and he had then used it to load concrete blocks. He works for concrete products supplier John Fyfe of Inverness.
The DOT is to examine the two vehicles before a report is sent to the Procurate Fiscal who will decide on whether to take action.