A35 – Lorry driver sentenced after vehicle comes off road

Ian Reynolds, 54, was driving the vehicle along the A35 at Winterbourne Abbas on January 13 this year when it left the road and got stuck. Reynolds appeared at Weymouth Magistrates' Court on Friday, February 27 where he pleaded guilty to driving a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road without due care or attention. He kept his licence after making a plea to the court that driving was his livelihood.

Elizabeth Valera, prosecuting, told the court that following the incident, members of the public phoned the police to let them know the '18 wheeler' had come off the road. She added: "There is dashcam footage which shows how the defendant failed to stay on the carriageway for some reason and veered off onto the verge. "The road had to be closed for a number of hours to allow for recovery and clean-up."

There were no injuries as a result of the incident and no damage was caused. Representing himself, Reynolds of Lancelot Road, Exeter told the court that this was the first time he had driven a vehicle of this particular kind. He has been a HGV driver for six years prior to the incident and explained that the articulated lorries are 'a lot heavier.'

Reynolds said he had had a short introduction to driving the lorry in the morning and was subsequently told to drive from Bridgwater, Somerset to Portland - at this point the lorry was empty. He was then to drive from Portland to Okehampton, Devon and had 43 tonnes of animal feed loaded onto the lorry. Reynolds said: "It was such a shock to me that day...I think it was just an accident, I don't know what happened.

"Perhaps the wheel of the tractor unit [the front part of the lorry] has stepped off the lip of the road dragging me in. "Driving is my life; it pays the mortgage. I drive 3,000 miles a week in my truck."

When sentencing Reynolds, Chair of the Magistrates' Bench, Colin Weston, said: "This is the most unfortunate situation for you."

Reynolds was issued 10 points on his licence and must also pay GBP518 in costs, a GBP173 surcharge and GBP200 in compensation to Dorset Council, totalling GBP891.