Operator is also disqualified as a transport manager after failing to spot a multitude of defects on a vehicle he was driving
Cornish coach operator Jackett’s Coaches has had its licence revoked.
Trevellyan Jackett, 33, who traded as Jackett’s Coaches, was also disqualified from acting as a transport manager anywhere in Europe for two years. Both measures took effect immediately.
Kevin Rooney, Traffic Commissioner (TC) for the West of England, made the orders after holding a public inquiry in Bristol on October 16, 2017.
Mr Jackett, who told the TC he had ceased operating ahead of the hearing, was authorised to run eight vehicles under his licence from premises in Callington and Gunnislake.
The inquiry was called after an investigation by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) into Mr Jackett’s vehicle safety standards.
A DVSA vehicle examiner raised several concerns, including three vehicles found with safety critical defects. One vehicle had a serious electrical fault which constituted a fire risk, the second had a brake pad missing and an excessively worn brake disc, while the third had a weakened interior floor which was likely to collapse.
During one of the encounters, where Mr Jackett had driven the vehicle himself to Torpoint Community College carrying students, an examiner also found five out of six tyres were seriously defective. The DVSA officer concluded that the condition of the tyres could have led to a blow out, compromising control of the vehicle.
Records revealed that Mr Jackett had completed a vehicle defect check sheet before using the vehicle on the day and had recorded no defects.
The operator was also found to have not carried out routine safety checks on time, not repaired defects identified by drivers for significant amounts of time and had an inadequate recent annual test history. Vehicle inspections were carried out without appropriate facilities and equipment, as well as by unqualified individuals, and a vehicle was being kept at a location which the TC had refused to authorise.
Additionally, June 30, 2016, one of Mr Jackett’s coaches lost a wheel, which struck another vehicle. In another incident, on December 15, 2016, one of Mr Jackett’s vehicles collided with pedestrians crossing a road at the Tesco Filling Station on Transit Way in Plymouth. Two people were injured, one seriously. A subsequent DVSA investigation concluded that although there were defects present on the vehicle, they had not contributed to the collision.
Making his orders, the TC said it was inexcusable that Mr Jackett – as the driver, transport manager and licence holder – had not only driven a vehicle with seriously defective tyres ut also failed to identify those defects during his daily check.
The TC also criticised the operator’s inadequate maintenance records for vehicles. In one instance, where the vehicle had been found with a brake fault, no brake performance test was subsequently carried out to establish that the brakes were operating properly.
He said: “[Mr Jackett’s] failure to manage his mechanic along with his personal disregard for the driver defect reporting system mean that I find his repute as a transport manager is lost.”
