Police in New South Wales, Australia, have launched an investigation against a trucking firm whose vehicles have been involved in two fatal crashes in the past month, the latest of which claimed a cyclist’s life.
Both fatal accidents took place near Sydney on motorways, where cyclists are allowed to ride in the breakdown lane.
David Williams, aged 37, died on Saturday when a truck hit him and three fellow cyclists on the M4 motorway, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The three other bike riders, two male and one female, were all seriously injured in the collision.
The newspaper added that the truck driver, a 27-year-old man who works for South Penrith Sand & Soil, had undergone routine blood and urine tests, and the state health and safety body, WorkCover NSW, said that it was investigating whether fatigue might have been a contributory factor to the accident.
New South Wales police said that they had widened their investigation into Saturday’s accident after discovering that the same company had been involved in another fatal accident on 24 March.
In that incident, a 51-year-old man died when a truck hit his station wagon, which was parked in the breakdown lane.
Yesterday, police and accident investigators from the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority searched the company’s premises and seized records relating to the vehicles and drivers involved in the two crashes.
In a statement, Senior Sergeant Peter Jenkins Commander of the Metropolitan Crash Investigation Unit said: “Investigators from the RTA are working with police to examine the full circumstances of this incident and the other fatality involving this company. Officers are examining all relevant documents to determine if any breaches have occurred,” Senior Sergeant Jenkins said.
So using a multi tonne vehicle as a weapon which will clearly seriously injure/kill leads to this pitifull sentence....
Just thinking - Wick and Penzance must have a potentially problematic number of one way hires...
Came to this late; nearly posted the same!
Is there any danger of them actually making a profit any time soon?
Ah but they're only best practice in NL! The UK is a completely different country. We have different laws, hills, narrow streets, weather, people...
Do what the French do....
"A Norfolk mum on a night out caused £53,000 of damage to a 16th-century pub after crashing her BMW into it as she tried to make last orders. "...
Struggling for news content? Only taken two weeks to report on these overgrown hedges, I hope shes still not stuck on the pavement waiting for them...
Accident prevention - TBF that's mostly a task beyond the police (though emergency forces are involved with this). They generally react when...
Possibly some training instead though.