A judge can rule only on cases that are brought to him.
When sentencing Barry Meyer for killing Alan Neve by careless driving, Judge Daniel Worsley expressed his bafflement that other related parties were not prosecuted as well:
“Heaven knows why the lorry owners let you drive that vehicle without checking and seeing whether you had a proper HGV licence,”
This lack of willingness by the authorities to catch the bigger fish has prompted the London Cycling Campaign to write to Nick Denton, the Traffic Commissioner, i.e. the person who decides who is allowed to operate commercial vehicles, in South East England:
“The 32 tonne tipper lorry driven by Mr. Meyer had registration S 77 DHL. We believe that it is linked to Operator Licence OK1046680 held by an operator based in East London. London Cycling Campaign expects that the Traffic Commissioner should review the Operator Licence and consider revoking it. We also believe that the licence holder and/or the transport manager concerned should be considered to be of bad repute and therefore unsuitable to hold a licence or act as a transport manager in the future.”
The Commissioner has responded by calling the lorry operator and transport manager in for an inquiry. There will be a preliminary hearing on 4th June followed by an inquiry sometime in June.
At the same time, at City Hall, Jenny Jones has asked Boris Johnson the following question:
“What action is being taken by the Metropolitan Police Service against the company and the licenced operator, who gave a job to Barry Meyer, despite him not having a valid HGV licence and a history of being banned on five previous occasions?
Cowboy operators fester in an environment which is not properly regulated and policed. One would think that with the appalling figures of people killed by HGV drivers staring in front of their eyes, regulators and police would be very rigorous in clamping down on anyone who poses a threat to ordinary citizens.
It is indicative of the lazy attitude of the Traffic Commissioner, that four months after the killing of Alan Neve, Alan John Drummond (holders of the licence) was authorised to move its operating centre. Why wasn’t his licence suspended at the time?
UPDATE: On 4.6.15, Alan and Colin Drummond failed to attend the hearing at the Commissioner’s Office. Investigations have revealed inconsistencies of the registered operating addresses used by the Drummonds.
Vision Zero London 