A bridge too far? – Bridge strikes and the Traffic Commissioners

11 May 2021

BACK in September 2020, Senior Traffic Commissioner, Richard Turfitt, issued a letter to all commercial vehicle operator licence holders (here) regarding the risk of bridge strikes and updated his Statutory Guidance and Statutory Directions (here) to make significant additions in relation to bridge strikes and collisions with infrastructure.

These documents make it clear that “when incidences [of bridge strikes] are brought to the attention of a traffic commissioner they will wish to consider the culpability of the operator and transport manager and they may be called to attend a public inquiry. The driver can also expect to be called to a hearing and may face a period of suspension” – regulatory action is therefore a real possibility for: (i) those operators and transport managers who fail to take appropriate control measures to prevent bridge strikes; and (ii) the drivers involved.

At Backhouse Jones, our Regulatory team have been dealing with numerous Public Inquiries, Preliminary Hearings and Driver Conduct Hearings arising from bridge strikes where the operators, transport managers and drivers all face potentially significant action.  We are also regularly assisting operators to make the appropriate notifications to the Traffic Commissioner following a bridge strike incident.  So, if one of your vehicles has been involved in a bridge strike or if you want to take the opportunity to review your existing bridge strike prevention systems and procedures, contact the Regulatory team on 01254 828300 or regulatory@backhouses.co.uk

Given the current prominence of the issue of bridge strikes, and to assist operators in preventing bridge strikes, we have also used our unrivalled expertise to develop a comprehensive eTraining course – ‘A Bridge Too Far’ – that covers what bridge strikes mean in practice for operators, drivers and your compliance management systems and the implications of getting it wrong.  If you are interested in our eTraining, email marketing@backhouses.co.uk to discuss individual training or bespoke organisational training.

There is also Government guidance available to operators of both HGVs and PSVs on the prevention of bridge strikes (here).