Knowing He Had A History Of Blacking Out At The Wheel Was The Driver Here Being...

[sandyRoe]

...circumspect when he took a job as a bin lorry driver?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-33650771

[hc4361]

He was being dishonest, stupid and selfish.

[atalanta]

My brother was a driver, and he had one blackout - Not at the wheel, and Immediately All his licenses were taken off him. For the most obvious reasons.

[sivam]

Circumspect is hardly the word. Criminal would be more apt.

[sandyRoe]

I agree. The stupidity and selfishness of some people never ceases to amaze me.

[TWR]

It's obviously too late now but I can not understand, there were 2 other people in the cab who must have known where the Handbrake was situated, either on the Dash or to the left of the driver, they could have stopped this Truck by pulling up the handbrake.

[douglas9401]

That's already been covered by an expert witness, TWR. Not just as simple as saying it, apparently.

[EDDIE51]

Read the link, even if they had applied the handbrake which was not easy from the rear it would not have stopped the van and would have caused a skid that would have made it worse.
This driver had already had a blackout yet kept on driving.How was that allowed to happen?

[TWR]

I have not read any reports Doug but I would have thought the workmen within the cab must have taken some sort of notice of how the driver controls the Truck! I understand the situation of being stunned by what was happening as been a HGV Driver myself, I am not going to harp on about this terrible accident, but only my thoughts.

[EDDIE51]

The link says he was driving a bus when he blacked out before but did not crash. Also he blacked out in the works canteen. There has to be a great deal of mismanagement by the employers to have allowed him to keep driving, he should not have had a licence at all!

[TWR]

I agree Eddie.

[EDDIE51]

There is not going to be a criminal prosecution over this!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-31628698
yet the driver Harry Clark MUST have lied about his medical history to get a job as a driver. How come he is not being prosecuted? along with the council officials who failed to check on him when they gave him the job?

[jno]

blackouts do happen - I once had one - but I'm not sure they make you unfit to drive, unless there's some suggestion that they're particularly likely to occur when you've got a steering wheel in your hands? I certainly don't regard myself as unable to drive, though if it ever happened again I'd have to rethink this.

[mushroom25]

twr, the other occupants were in the back of the cab, separated from the front by a metal bar. the handbrake control could be reached from the back if the rear occupants were above a certain height tall, if they removed their seatbelt, knew where the handbrake control was and how the brake operated. neither rear occupant had been shown how the brake worked, indeed neither had driving licences.

[ladyalex]

It defies belief that anyone in a bin lorry that was out of control and killing people would not try their best to stop it.
I am sure that those poor chps in the back did their absolute best to make it stop.
I'm also pretty sure that they will never be the same again.

[EDDIE51]

It is not possible to stop a lorry that is in gear with the accelerator pressed down by pulling up the handbrake, all this talk about the rear passengers stopping the lorry is beside the point. The driver should not have been driving that is the point. he had already lost a driving job because he had blacked out at the wheel.
jno ,if you have had a blackout you should not be driving unless your doctor has found the cause and said you are safe to continue. Have you reported this fact to your GP? If not and you do have an accident your insurance will be void . Any kind of 'blackout' or seizure must be reported to a doctor and you should not drive again until you have been checked and found to be safe. Happened to me last year , I had an unexplained seizure. I had to stop driving until I had had a CAT scan and tests to rule out epilepsy .

[EDDIE51]

The driver has today admitted in court that he lied on the medical history form when applying for the job. The supervisor for the council that employed him has said that he would not have been given the job if he had told the truth on the medical history form. The supervisor has also said that the people killed would still be alive if the driver had told the truth and so not been given the job. Surely this amounts to criminal negligence by the driver? He had already lost a job as a bus driver due to blacking out!
As I said on the 25th July at 11.58 criminal prosecutions have been ruled out, but this makes that absurd ,Yes ?

[agchristie]

Eddie, cheers for the update. I haven't really followed this case but I wonder if any civil actions may result?

[sandyRoe]

Could the Crown Office not reconsider now it's known the driver lied on his application form about his medical history?