West Midlands traffic commissioner Nick Denton said that BS & NK Panesar Ltd deserved to go out of business after it operated seriously unroadworthy vehicles and failed to instil the necessary culture of safety into its drivers.
Director Balbinder Panesar has been disqualified by the region’s industry regulator and his firm lost its licence to operate vehicles on 29th May 2017.
Mr Panesar clearly “did not care enough about safety to establish and oversee a system which would have prevented his vehicles from being driven in such a poor condition,” the traffic commissioner concluded in his written decision.
“The result was a company culture where vehicle and driver safety was simply ignored. Road safety and fair competition against other operators who take the trouble and expense to comply has been jeopardised.”
At a public inquiry on 11th May 2017, Mr Denton heard evidence from the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency, following investigations into the company’s vehicle and driver standards. Their findings included vehicle defects, lack of routine inspections and drivers putting in too many hours.
Responding to the DVSA report, the company’s solicitor said Mr Panesar’s son, Kamaljit, planned to attend a transport manager CPC course and that although safety inspections records were missing for 2016 they could be evidenced through invoices. She also accepted that no driver defect books had been completed in 2016.
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
