Holly Chevassut
PFD Report
All Responded
Ref: 2020-0303
All 1 response received
· Deadline: 11 Mar 2021
Coroner's Concerns (AI summary)
Certain vehicle configurations, with low-height, protruding mirrors and guards, create a risk of serious injury or death to people overtaken by these vehicles.
View full coroner's concerns
In the circumstances it is my statutory duty to report to _ (.1) GRS continues to operate vehicles with mirrors and guards the height of which are under 2 ms from the road surface and which project more than 20 cms from the widest part of those vehicles. Such a configuration creates a risk of personal injury and death to people overtaken by these vehicles
Responses
Action Taken
GRS Recovery has removed the offending mirrors, and rotated the remaining mirrors to reduce the width of the vehicles. (AI summary)
GRS Recovery has removed the offending mirrors, and rotated the remaining mirrors to reduce the width of the vehicles. (AI summary)
View full response
GRS RECOVERY WARWICKSHIRE LTD UNITS 3 & 4 CHURCHLANDS BUSINESS PARK UFTON ROAD, HARBURY CV33 9GX
1. GRS Recovery Warwickshire Limited (“GRS Recovery”) provides this response in relation to the report received under Regulation 28 following the inquest touching upon the death of Holly Chevassut.
2. GRS Recovery provide recovery services for vehicles that have either broken down or have been involved in road traffic accidents. GRS Recovery also provides services to Police forces recovering vehicles connected to criminal offending. This includes working with Warwickshire Police Force.
3. GRS Recovery is a small family business conducted from its premises at 3-4 Churchlands Business Park, Ufton Road, Harbury, Leamington Spa CV33 9GX. GRS Recovery has operated since 1982.
4. GRS Recovery is a private company limited by shares held by
. It is run by their daughter, , who is a Director of the company along with . has stepped down from her Directorship in 2020. Due to this, all decision making at company level is undertaken by
with undertaking most of the practical aspects of management.
5. The Court will be familiar with role from his evidence. His role is best defined as overseeing the day-today operations of the company, managing the logistics of its fleet and workforce. This includes overseeing the maintenance of the fleet. has been employed with the company intermittently since 1994 but he has remained in the industry in that time.
6. GRS Recovery currently employs 9 members of staff including 6 drivers. The Company operates 15 recovery vehicles including the two Izuzu vehicles referenced in the Regulation 28 report. Preventative Maintenance Inspections take place every 6-12 weeks. Other than the two Izuzu vehicles, the remaining vehicles wing mirrors are above 2 metres from the road surface. GRS Recovery response to Regulation 28
7. GRS Recovery welcomes the directions made by Mr Leeper, Assistant Coroner, under Regulation 28 Report to prevent future deaths following the Inquest into the tragic death of Holly Chevassut. GRS Recovery is committed to ensuring it is compliant with all rules and regulations effecting safe operation of the business.
8. The inquest provided the opportunity to examine the circumstances that led to the tragic death of Holly Chevassut and for GRS Recovery to assess and review the safety of its vehicles going forward. As a result of this, following the directions of Mr Leeper, GRS have outlined the steps taken to address the concerns raised in the report. GRS have also described its future procedure to ensure GRS Recovery learns lessons from the circumstance that led to the loss of Holly Chevassut and continues to ensure the safety of its vehicles in the future.
1. GRS Continues to operate vehicles with mirrors and guards the height of which is under 2ms from the road surface which project more than 20 cms from the widest part of those vehicle.
9. There were two vehicles this report is subject to and they are as follows: - Vehicle 1 Izuzu- This was the vehicle involved in the incident. The wing-mirror protectors were no longer fitted to vehicle 1 at the time the inquest took place. However, the manufacturer fitted wing mirrors exceeded the width required by law by 3cm. Vehicle 2 Izuzu - The inquest also heard that a second Izuzu of the same model may exceed the width required by law as it had the same manufacturer-fitted wing mirrors along with wing mirror protectors. Methods undertaken to reduce the width of the wing-mirrors.
10. GRS Recovery confirm that the wing mirror protectors to Vehicle 2 have now been removed and are no longer fitted to any vehicle under 2 meters from the road surface.
11. GRS Recovery then considered a method to reduce the width of the manufacturer fitted wing-mirrors of both vehicles 1 and 2. GRS Recovery identified that the wing mirrors do not sit centrally on the tubular metal frame. Photo A below (taken from the expert report) shows a birds-eye view of the mirror housing attached to the frame as fitted by the manufacturer.
12. Due to this position, the majority of the mirror is positioned outwards of the tubular metal frame with the remainder inward between the frame and the door to the vehicle.
Photo A
13. Therefore, in order to reduce the width of the wing mirrors GRS Recovery has rotated both offside and near side wing mirrors 180 degrees. This places the longer area which faced outwards from the tubular metal frame inward and vice versa. Consequently, this reduces the width of the wing mirrors. GRS Recovery provides the following examples from the offside and nearside mirrors of Vehicle 2 in Photos B and C. Photo B- Nearside door mirror rotated 180 degrees
Photo C- Off side door mirror rotated 180 degrees.
14. Following the modifications, this has reduced the width of both vehicles and measurement between the widest parts of the vehicles and the wing mirror. Vehicle 1’s wing mirrors project 19.25 cm from the widest part of the vehicle on each side. Vehicle 2’s wing mirrors project 17cm from the widest part of the vehicle on each side.
15. Both vehicles’ wing mirrors now project less than the 20cm limit prescribed by the The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986.
16. We are grateful with the Coroner for raising this issue and providing GRS Recovery the opportunity to respond. GRS Recovery will ensure that this procedure continues in future when it purchases its vehicles.
1. GRS Recovery Warwickshire Limited (“GRS Recovery”) provides this response in relation to the report received under Regulation 28 following the inquest touching upon the death of Holly Chevassut.
2. GRS Recovery provide recovery services for vehicles that have either broken down or have been involved in road traffic accidents. GRS Recovery also provides services to Police forces recovering vehicles connected to criminal offending. This includes working with Warwickshire Police Force.
3. GRS Recovery is a small family business conducted from its premises at 3-4 Churchlands Business Park, Ufton Road, Harbury, Leamington Spa CV33 9GX. GRS Recovery has operated since 1982.
4. GRS Recovery is a private company limited by shares held by
. It is run by their daughter, , who is a Director of the company along with . has stepped down from her Directorship in 2020. Due to this, all decision making at company level is undertaken by
with undertaking most of the practical aspects of management.
5. The Court will be familiar with role from his evidence. His role is best defined as overseeing the day-today operations of the company, managing the logistics of its fleet and workforce. This includes overseeing the maintenance of the fleet. has been employed with the company intermittently since 1994 but he has remained in the industry in that time.
6. GRS Recovery currently employs 9 members of staff including 6 drivers. The Company operates 15 recovery vehicles including the two Izuzu vehicles referenced in the Regulation 28 report. Preventative Maintenance Inspections take place every 6-12 weeks. Other than the two Izuzu vehicles, the remaining vehicles wing mirrors are above 2 metres from the road surface. GRS Recovery response to Regulation 28
7. GRS Recovery welcomes the directions made by Mr Leeper, Assistant Coroner, under Regulation 28 Report to prevent future deaths following the Inquest into the tragic death of Holly Chevassut. GRS Recovery is committed to ensuring it is compliant with all rules and regulations effecting safe operation of the business.
8. The inquest provided the opportunity to examine the circumstances that led to the tragic death of Holly Chevassut and for GRS Recovery to assess and review the safety of its vehicles going forward. As a result of this, following the directions of Mr Leeper, GRS have outlined the steps taken to address the concerns raised in the report. GRS have also described its future procedure to ensure GRS Recovery learns lessons from the circumstance that led to the loss of Holly Chevassut and continues to ensure the safety of its vehicles in the future.
1. GRS Continues to operate vehicles with mirrors and guards the height of which is under 2ms from the road surface which project more than 20 cms from the widest part of those vehicle.
9. There were two vehicles this report is subject to and they are as follows: - Vehicle 1 Izuzu- This was the vehicle involved in the incident. The wing-mirror protectors were no longer fitted to vehicle 1 at the time the inquest took place. However, the manufacturer fitted wing mirrors exceeded the width required by law by 3cm. Vehicle 2 Izuzu - The inquest also heard that a second Izuzu of the same model may exceed the width required by law as it had the same manufacturer-fitted wing mirrors along with wing mirror protectors. Methods undertaken to reduce the width of the wing-mirrors.
10. GRS Recovery confirm that the wing mirror protectors to Vehicle 2 have now been removed and are no longer fitted to any vehicle under 2 meters from the road surface.
11. GRS Recovery then considered a method to reduce the width of the manufacturer fitted wing-mirrors of both vehicles 1 and 2. GRS Recovery identified that the wing mirrors do not sit centrally on the tubular metal frame. Photo A below (taken from the expert report) shows a birds-eye view of the mirror housing attached to the frame as fitted by the manufacturer.
12. Due to this position, the majority of the mirror is positioned outwards of the tubular metal frame with the remainder inward between the frame and the door to the vehicle.
Photo A
13. Therefore, in order to reduce the width of the wing mirrors GRS Recovery has rotated both offside and near side wing mirrors 180 degrees. This places the longer area which faced outwards from the tubular metal frame inward and vice versa. Consequently, this reduces the width of the wing mirrors. GRS Recovery provides the following examples from the offside and nearside mirrors of Vehicle 2 in Photos B and C. Photo B- Nearside door mirror rotated 180 degrees
Photo C- Off side door mirror rotated 180 degrees.
14. Following the modifications, this has reduced the width of both vehicles and measurement between the widest parts of the vehicles and the wing mirror. Vehicle 1’s wing mirrors project 19.25 cm from the widest part of the vehicle on each side. Vehicle 2’s wing mirrors project 17cm from the widest part of the vehicle on each side.
15. Both vehicles’ wing mirrors now project less than the 20cm limit prescribed by the The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986.
16. We are grateful with the Coroner for raising this issue and providing GRS Recovery the opportunity to respond. GRS Recovery will ensure that this procedure continues in future when it purchases its vehicles.
Sent To
- GRS Recovery
Response Status
Linked responses
1 of 1
56-Day Deadline
11 Mar 2021
All responses received
About PFD responses
Organisations named in PFD reports must respond within 56 days explaining what actions they are taking.
Source: Courts and Tribunals Judiciary
Report Sections
Investigation and Inquest
On 08/11/2018 an investigation was commenced into the death of Holly Chevassut: The investigation concluded at the end of the inquest on 02/12/2020. The determination of the inquest as to the medical cause of death was a traumatic spinal cord injury owing to impact with a vehicle, and as to conclusion, Road Traffic Collision.
Circumstances of the Death
On 31/10/2018 at approximately 1723 hours, the Deceased was walking Plough Lane, Harbury when she was hit by apparatus protecting the wing mirror of passing recovery belonging to GRS Recovery: Plough Lane is a rural unlit lane with no footpath on either side. The incident took place in the hours of darkness. The height ofthe wing mirrors and the protective metal plates on both the nearside and offside of the recovery truck was under Zms from the road surface. projected more than 2Ocms from the widest part of the vehicle.
Action Should Be Taken
In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and believe your organisation has the power to take such action
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Data sourced from Courts and Tribunals Judiciary under the Open Government Licence.