Chain of responsibility consultant says trucking operators should pay attention to the case of Peter Colbert
A 12-year jail sentence for a transport operator boss guilty of manslaughter represents a “scary” new benchmark in penalties for non-compliance, an industry consultant has warned.
Peter Colbert was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment after being convicted over the death of driver Robert Brimson.
The brakes on the truck Brimson was driving failed, causing him to crash, fatally, into a pole.
The Supreme Court of South Australia found Colbert had previously been warned several times about the state of the brakes, but did nothing to address the issue.
SA-based chain of responsibility consultant Roxanne Mysko says the sentence should be a “wake-up call” for other operators.
While the sentence was made in South Australia, she says the regulations are federally recognised and will have national implications: “The benchmark has been made now.”
Although Colbert’s transgressions were significant, Mysko says every breach of regulations holds a risk of similar liability if a crash takes place.
“This has been coming for the last five or six years,” Mysko says.
“The law is the law, and anyone that hasn’t done the right thing is liable to be ‘in it’.”
Along with maintenance, fatigue compliance is one of the biggest regulatory areas where trucking operators are being caught out, Mysko says.
The penalty handed out to Peter Colbert has set a “scary” benchmark for the trucking industry.
Posted by Owner Driver on Monday, 24 August 2015