Family-owned Hendy Transport in Victoria and its director have been fined a total of $60,000 after a collision that killed a two-year-old infant and seriously injured several others.
Former Hendy driver Matthew John Livingston, 44, was behind the wheel of a 43-tonne heavy vehicle, when it crashed into the back of a car near Diggers Rest on December 6, 2021.
Inside the car was a couple and their two young children – two-year-old Harriett and one-year-old Jemima, who were in the back seat.
Livingston was given a 12-and-a-half year prison sentence last year for a string of driving charges, with prosecutors alleging he drifted in and out of sleep in the lead-up to the crash. He’s eligible for parole in 2031.
Hendy, his employer at the time, recently pleaded guilty to a Category 2 offence under the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL), while a company director also pleaded guilty to a Category 3 offence.
An NHVR spokesperson said the Category 2 offence refers to the company’s failure to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, the safety of its transport activities.
“They failed to control, monitor, review and/or audit the levels of compliance with the Heavy Vehicle (Fatigue Management) Nation Regulation.”
The Category 3 offence was a due diligence offence committed by the director of the company.
“This offence falls under section 26D of the Heavy Vehicle National Law and for this matter, a Category 3 maximum penalty was applicable.”
The company was fined $45,000 and the director $15,000 in the Horsham Magistrates’ Court earlier this week. The maximum penalties were $1,723,840 and $57,440, respectively.
The NHVR said an investigation into the company follow the crash revealed that over a two-month period, its drivers committed 202 fatigue-related breaches.
“The investigation into the company’s practices revealed driver timesheets weren’t validated for accuracy and compliance,” said NHVR executive director of statutory compliance, Ray Hassall.
“The company also failed to address non-compliance with drivers, ultimately resulting in no improvement action taken.
“In this instance, the company failed to implement and enforce systems and procedures to effectively manage and monitor drivers’ fatigue, which threatened the safety of both their drivers and other road users.”
Hendy Transport general manager Troy Hendy told Big Rigs he would not comment on the case until after the 28-day appeal period was over.
Hassall told Big Rigs that the decision handed down was “broadly in line” with what the regulator recommended.
“It doesn’t overcome the fact that a child was killed – it can only provide some sort of partial compensation,” Hassall said.
“It was originally $75,000 [the company penalty] but they pleaded guilty, which was taken into account.”
Hassell said that the company has also since done what is necessary “after the fact”.
“They brought in controls, driver monitoring cameras to make sure drivers weren’t fatigued and started looking at records and validating them, as their policy said they should.
“They had a properly trained compliance person; all the things that you would expect of an organisation that took itself seriously.”
Hassall said one of the big lessons for industry from the case is that a system is only as good as the use you make of it.
“There’s no point having an expensive system that you’re unable, or unwilling to use, and don’t be afraid of creating records of non-compliance.
“But if you don’t follow up those records, or are blind to it, that’s when you have a problem.
“In any sort of reasonably run organisation, you would have a system of disclosing and dealing with the risks, and if you can’t eliminate them, for example, a driver who simply is no longer fit and able to drive safely, well, they go to other duties or other employment.
“You’ve got to be able to manage that. And similarly, with technology, it’s as good as the use you put it to. There’s not a lot of point installing expensive technology that just becomes a driver distraction when you don’t follow it up to make sure the drivers are actually safe.”