According to reports in Ireland, a trucker with no licence was fined at Portlaoise district court on Thursday due to him shedding his lorry’s load in the village of Ballacolla.
The driver was charged with giving a false name to the police, failure to secure the load on his lorry, as well as having no insurance, driving licence and tachograph.
A police officer told the court that the lorry’s load, which consisted of two large pallets of fertiliser, was unsecure. The incident occured on the 23-year-old driver’s second day on the job, although he should not have been driving the lorry at all as he had no licence or experience.
The driver reportedly gave the police a false name in panic but pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, admitted what he and done and took responsibility.
The judge ruling on the case nonetheless posed the question as to why the driver’s employer had not been prosecuted, saying “He should not have been told to do it. It’s far more serious.”
The judge also told the driver: “You need to make sure you check the vehicle yourself. Check the tachograph and that you are insured to drive it.”
The young driver was fined €100 for not having any licence and €100 for being without a tachograph.
Photo credit: Irish emergency services on instagram