Although a recent South Australian jury decision to convict a road transport company director of manslaughter and endangering life due to serious failures in vehicle maintenance was not made under the CoR regime, it underscores the importance of the current heavy vehicle roadworthiness legislative reform initiative and the CoR focus on executive responsibility.
Peter Colbert, the director of Adelaide-based Colbert Transport, was prosecuted after Robert Brimson, a driver he had engaged, died in a truck crash in Happy Valley, South Australia, in March 2014.
An investigation determined that the crash was caused by the failure of the brakes on the vehicle he was driving (a 1994 Mitsubishi Taut Liner). Mr Brimson, who attempted eleven times to apply the brakes immediately before the vehicle collided into a pole, had only been working with the company for ten days before the fatal accident occurred.
The prosecution established that Mr Colbert had also endangered the life of another employee, who had driven the same vehicle 3 days earlier.
Evidence showed that the company had received repeated warnings from its drivers that the brakes needed to be fixed.
Additionally, evidence provided for the prosecution by the business's former book keeper showed that Mr Colbert himself had been behind the wheel of the faulty truck when it caught fire approximately one month before the fatal accident. This established that as the director, he had first hand knowledge of the serious maintenance issues with the vehicle.
The prosecutor, Mr Tim Preson, submitted:
The allegations that he had been warned several times to fix the truck's brakes prior to the accident were denied by Mr Colbert who said that he relied upon the company mechanic to properly maintain the company's vehicles.
Mr Colbert potentially faces a life sentence in relation to the convictions, but the court will not hand down a decision on his sentence until later this year.
The prosecution of the company director in this case was brought under the South Australian criminal statute and was not under the Heavy Vehicle National Law's (HVNL's), CoR regime.
Although the CoR regime carries heavy penalties for proven severe and critical breaches of road transport safety laws, it does not include its own offences for manslaughter or endangering life, and does not presently extend CoR requirements to matters of roadworthiness and vehicle maintenance.
The importance of company directors taking responsibility for the safety of company vehicles and implementing a regular and effective maintenance program was made tragically apparent from the circumstances of this case. It is also a decision that confirms that it is not an adequate response for a director of a company to delegate full responsibility for vehicle safety to a mechanic or others with a responsibility for vehicle maintenance.
It has recently been confirmed by Safe Work Australia that drivers of heavy vehicles in Australia are fifteen times more likely to die in the course of their employment than people engaged in any other occupation in Australia, and it is broadly recognised that unsafe vehicles pose serious safety risks to the heavy vehicle drivers as well as other road users.
The current joint initiative by the National Transport Commission (NTC) and National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) to identify the most effective ways to improve the roadworthiness of the heavy vehicles in Australia is presently in the third of its four phases.
Submissions have been received on a consultation regulatory impact statement and the next phase will involve finalising recommendations on the best and most effective ways in which accreditation schemes, vehicle inspections and other mechanisms might be used to improve the safety of heavy road vehicles on Australian roads.
In the interim, Mr Brimson's death, as well as other recent heavy vehicle accidents in the state, have led South Australian authorities to push for an extension of CoR provisions to vehicle roadworthiness as a matter of priority.
In May 2015, State Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Stephen Mulligan, announced he had secured a commitment to fast-track the changes from other transport ministers.
In a statement, Mr Mulligan said that extending the law would send a clear message to directors and CEOs about their potential liability.
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