An fatal accident could have been avoided if the Perthshire waste contractor involved had not used a bin lorry “with extensive blind spots” to collect rubbish on a town high street, a sheriff has ruled.
Tragic pedestrian Margaret Johnstone had chosen “a bad place to cross the road” – right in front of the 19-tonne Iveco truck, Sheriff Alastair Brown said.
But he said the lorry had “significant blind spots” around its front and nearside, where the driver’s direct vision was obstructed.
A fatal accident inquiry at Alloa Sheriff Court heard the lorry was operated by the Perthshire-based Binn Group Ltd.
Two actions could have prevented death
A fatal accident inquiry heard Mrs Johnstone, 52, had stepped off the pavement, in Alloa High Street the moment the vehicle moved off.
She crossed less than 18 inches in front of the lorry and would have been invisible to its driver, Grant Waley who had just got back into his cab after picking up waste bags.
She died at the scene of “catastrophic” injuries.
Sheriff Brown ruled two precautions could reasonably have been taken and might realistically have resulted in Mrs Johnstone’s death being avoided.
One was that Mrs Johnstone could have chosen to cross the road at a different point.
The other was “Binn Group could have chosen not to send a vehicle with extensive blind spots to collect refuse.”
‘Unsuitable’ vehicle
Sheriff Brown said: “The conclusion I reach is that this vehicle was unsuitable for the task which Mr Waley was carrying out.
“He had to keep stopping outside commercial premises, collect rubbish, get back in and drive on before stopping again and repeating the process.
“He had to drive down a street which was busy with pedestrians, with shops on both sides.
“The carriageway was so narrow that the lorry occupied its whole width.
“The extensive blind spots which characterised this lorry made it difficult for him to be sure that pedestrians were not in danger.”
He said the truck was fitted with “an array of mirrors”, which alleviated but did not cure the problem.
He said if Binn Group had used a “low cab” lorry for the collection, its low windscreen and side windows would have given the driver much better visibility.
Investment in new lorries
In an affidavit, Irvine Morrison, Transport Director of Binn Group, said: “In an effort to avoid similar accidents occurring in the future” they have “heavily invested” in low cab vehicles.
“Following the accident all eight or so of the refuse or bin lorries purchased by Binn Group have been low cab models.
“If a pedestrian was to walk in front of one of our new vehicles, they would be readily identified by the driver.
“The new cabs are designed to fundamentally improve driver’s field of vision.
“Moreover the side panels on the new vehicles are also split which effectively creates a different and additional window.”
Mr Morrison added: “I would say that this is the crux which would have prevented the fatality occurring.”
Inquiry evidence
Collision investigator PC Fraser Mitchell told the inquiry in October Mrs Johnstone, who walked with the assistance of two walking aids, had just withdrawn money from a cash machine shortly before 4pm on November 13 2020.
By the time she showed any signs of intending to cross the road, near Specsavers in the town, she was in a position where the lorry driver would have been unable to see her, either directly or in any of his mirrors.
CCTV showed her “picking up pace” to try to get to the other side of the road.
However, the victim – less than 5ft 4ins tall and thought to have walked with a stoop – would have been below the bottom lip of the lorry’s windscreen because she was so close.
Mr Waley, 30, who was described as “emotional and in a state of shock” said he had checked all his mirrors before moving off.
He said he did not see Mrs Johnstone and had no idea where she had come from.
Sheriff Brown offered his condolences to Mrs Johnstone’s family.
