Man who died in South-Eastern Freeway crash in January had no instruction about arrester beds, inquest hears

A TRUCK driver who died in a crash at the bottom of the South-Eastern Freeway had never been given any information about arrester beds, an inquest has heard.

THE supervisor of a truck driver who died on the South Eastern Freeway had never instructed his employee about using the arrester beds if he lost control on the descent into Adelaide, an inquest has heard.

James William Venning, 41, was killed when he lost control of his semi-trailer on the freeway while transporting a load of potatoes 270km from Pinnaroo, near the Victorian border, to Virginia on January 18.

His supervisor, Simon Samon, told a coronial inquest into the death that he never discussed with Mr Venning about what to do if he lost control on the freeway.

He said he did not know whether anyone else at the Mitolo Group — where he and Mr Venning worked — had discussed safety procedures on the steep 8km descent into Adelaide.

“I’m sure James would have raised concerns with me if he was concerned — I was happy if he was happy,” he told the inquest.

Deputy Coroner Anthony Schapel asked Mr Samon if his company had ever discussed the cost of removing its trucks from arrester beds on the freeway or directed staff to use them if need be.

He responded he had never heard arrester beds discussed at the company.

In February, the inquest heard Mr Venning’s truck was travelling between 125km/h and 145km/h when it slammed into the wall of a retirement home at the foot of the freeway.

Brevet Sergeant Fred Sgt Bakker said there was no reason why Mr Venning could not have used the arrester beds.

“(There was) no reason why he couldn’t have taken it or shouldn’t have taken it,” Brevet Sgt Bakker told the coroner.

Counsel assisting the coroner, Rosie Thewlis, today asked Mr Samon if he had seen any media reports leading up to January 18 about a fatal truck crash on the freeway which claimed the life of John Posnakidis in 2010.

Mr Samon said he had not.

“We’re a very safety conscious group,” he told Deputy Coroner Anthony Schapel.

But he went on to tell the inquest he did not know whether the Virginia-based company had any fatigue management policies, training in place for the freeway or whether driving hours were checked.

He said he had never personally checked Mr Venning’s log book of driving hours and did not know whether he had been using it to keep track of his fatigue.

“I guess I just assumed they were doing their log books regularly,” he said.

Ms Thewlis asked him if he had a duty of care to ensure the employees he was responsible for were logging their hours.

He responded: “I’m not sure.”

The inquest also heard Mr Venning had only driven from Pinnaroo to Virginia two times before the fatal crash.

Both times he avoided the freeway and went through the Riverlands.

Mr Samon told the inquest a decision was made for Mr Venning to use the freeway on the third occasion because there were bushfires in the Riverlands.

He said drivers’ “preferred route” was through the Riverlands, not using the freeway which was a shorter distance.

Mr Samon said Mr Venning — who held the a valid truck driving licence — did not raise any concerns about taking the freeway on the day of the accident.

The inquest continues.