Fined for bridge bingle
VEOLIA has been fined $9000 after one of its truckies drove an oversized load across the Tasman Bridge, smashing into the overpass and hospitalising a Volkswagen driver.
On March 20, 2018, the driver carted a load of empty Australian Antarctic Division jet fuel drums from Mornington to Glenorchy.
However, the drums were in a non-standard shipping container and exceeded the Tasman Bridge’s 4.3 metre height limit, a newly-published Hobart Magistrates Court decision said.
Deputy Chief Magistrate Michael Daly said as the driver exited the bridge, the top of the container struck the Glenorchy overpass, forcing the container off the tray before it crashed into the roof and windscreen of the Volkswagen Golf behind it.
The male Volkswagen driver was hospitalised but did not suffer lasting injuries.
The bridge, railing and truck were damaged by the collision and traffic was interrupted for about three hours.
Veolia pleaded guilty to a breach of heavy vehicles laws, as the registered owner of a truck that was loaded and driven while exceeding dimension requirements.
Mr Daly said the truck driver, who had since left the company, pleaded guilty to being the driver and was sentenced in a separate court hearing.
The magistrate said the court heard a truck with a lower tray could have been used and that Veolia relied too heavily on its driver’s experience and training.
He said the driver breached his responsibilities by relying on those loading the container onto the truck, assumed the container was of standard height, and failed to see the “highly visible” caution signs.
“Other than an inadequate visual inspection of the load before departing, the driver took no action to determine the actual height of the load or to verify that it was under the permitted maximum height of 4.3 metres,” he said.
Mr Daly said Veolia was a “good corporate citizen” in Tasmania and had checked in on the Golf driver’s welfare — compensating him for personal belongings not covered by his insurance and ensuring he had a rental car.
Veolia, which could have been fined up to $27,000 for the breach, has since purchased measuring devices, put its staff through further training and revised its systems to reduce the risk of a similar event in the future.