Bridge Strike with Excavator Driver Avoids 6 Month Disqualification

Helen Newbold, barrister, represented this driver who was called to a Driver Conduct hearing after striking a road bridge with the hydraulic arm of an 18-tonne excavator.  With severe damage to the bridge and a trunk road closure of several hours, the driver was facing a sanction against his professional licence, starting at a 6 months disqualification.

Helen Newbold submitted a detailed proof of evidence to the Traffic Commissioner, which set out the facts in relation to the Operators negligence in relation to their driver recruitment and training policies.

After seeing the proof of evidence, the Operator admitted to all the failures which were attributed to them. The Traffic Commissioner imposed a driver disqualification of 6 days to mark the error the driver admitted he should not have made.