Manslaughter conviction for transport company director in SA case

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.