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Court Summary - at a glance

Date of offence:
30 October 2020
 
Plea:
Guilty
 
Decision:
Convicted
 
Final decision date:
 
Fine imposed:
$50,000

Safety lessons learned:

It was reasonably practicable for Johnston's Direct Logistics Limited to:

  • Develop, implement and maintain an effective process of fortnightly inspections of all its vehicles (including towed vehicles) to ensure that all vehicles remained safe and roadworthy, including inspecting the components of the vehicles for wear or damage, and maintaining a record of the inspections to ensure that no vehicles were omitted from the inspection process.
  • Develop, implement and maintain an effective process to ensure that none of its vehicles was permitted to operate without a current certificate or warrant of fitness.
  • Develop, implement and maintain an effective system to identify and record the Maximum Towed Mass/Gross Vehicle Mass of every towing vehicle and trailer to ensure that towing componentry fitted to its vehicles (including safety connections and attachments) were appropriately rated for safe use at the permissible load capacity. 

Defendant name:
Johnston's Direct Logistics Limited
 
Industry:
Postal, transport and warehousing
 
Date of offence:
30 October 2020
 
Facts in brief:
On 30 October 2020, a driver for the defendant was driving a truck, towing a trailer, north on SH1, towards Whangarei at or about 7.30pm. 

Approximately 18km south of Whangarei, near Mata, the trailer decoupled from the truck, and the safety chain connecting the trailer to the truck, failed. The trailer continued into the path of southbound traffic, striking a Subaru car carrying five people, including nine-year-old Storie Bailey Turner-Dave who was a passenger in the back seat of the Subaru. After being struck by the trailer, the Subaru veered off the road into a fence.

Storie Bailey Turner-Dave died from injuries sustained in the accident.
 
Offence section:
Sections 36(2) and 48(1) and 48(2)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
 
Date(s) charged:
27 October 2021

Court:
Whangarei - District Court
 
Plea:
Guilty
 
Final decision date:
 
Decision:
Convicted
 
Fine imposed:
$50,000
 
Maximum fine available:
$1.5 million
 
Reparation:
Emotional harm:
- $100,000 for family for death of victim (if they were a wealthy company then figure would have been $130,000)
- $10,000 each for four members of family in car where family member died
- $5,000 for driver of other vehicle

Consequential loss:
- No consequential loss sought given age of the deceased

Costs:
- $5391.12