Car accident news
26/11/2010

Company fined over road works car accident

A company, which was working on gas pipes under a road in the Isle of Wight, has been fined £20,000 after its employees caused a car accident in which a vehicle passing the road works was flipped on its side and its driver suffered severe bruising.

Southern Gas Networks pleaded guilty to a health and safety offence after the incident in Bembridge. Workers had left a steel plate covering trenches sticking up six to eight inches above the surface and two feet beyond a line of parked cars into oncoming traffic.

An HSE inspector said, "Southern Gas Networks had a duty to adequately protect road users when it moved the metal plate, and it failed to plan the work effectively. This meant that motorists were put in danger.

"All companies must remember that they have a responsibility to protect not only their own staff, but also members of the public when they carry out work."

The company was also ordered to pay £13,523 in court costs. It said the road traffic accident had been an isolated misjudgement by an employee.

The driver, who had to be cut free after the car crash which also wrote off his vehicle, may now be able to consult a no win no fee solicitor about seeking personal injury compensation for the ill health she subsequently suffered.