Always remember to lower the car transporter deck!
If ever there were the ultimate cautionary tale about what can happen if you forget to check your vehicle height before travelling, this is it: always remember to lower the car transporter deck! The driver of this HGV carrying brand-new Range Rovers got the shock of his life on Wednesday morning after commencing his journey with the top deck of his car transporter left in a raised position. The driver told officers from Greater Manchester Police that he had been distracted during his previous delivery by a woman with a pram who had asked him to move the vehicle. He had then continued his journey, forgetting that the top deck had not been lowered to the correct height for use on the road.
The incident happened just after the rush hour on the M61 near Kearsley, and left the two vehicles on the top deck seriously damaged. One of the vehicles was a £40,000 Velar, which officers on Twitter described jokingly as a “none factory built convertible”. No injuries were sustained in the incident, however, another driver who was following the transporter was left shaken after the roof of one of the cars flew off and hit his recovery truck.
One from yesterday – #M61 Motorway, car transporter driver fails to lower top deck and collides with bridge resulting in turning this Range Rover into a none factory build convertible! Driver reported for due care. @NWmwaypolice pic.twitter.com/SqSj0ctfmw
— GMP Traffic (@gmptraffic) April 26, 2018
Engineers were called to the scene to assess the bridge and fortunately, it was declared structurally safe. The driver of the car transporter was reported for driving without due care and attention.
Training Mentor Tip: In the UK, bridges over roads that do not display height information must be a minimum of 16ft 6in, or 5 metres.