CORNER BROOK, N.L. — A Reidville man has been convicted of failing to conduct a proper inspection of a dump truck that was involved in a fatal motor-vehicle accident near Howley in 2019.
Sean O’Brien was charged after a subsequent inspection of the dump truck found he failed to examine the vehicle’s odometer.
In his written decision, released on Wednesday, Sept. 9, Corner Brook provincial court judge Wayne Gorman noted there is no evidence this failure played any role in the accident.
The accident took place on Aug. 6, 2019 on Route 401 and involved the dump truck and a motorcycle. The driver of the motorcycle, a 46-year-old Howley man, died at the scene.
Police found an inspection certificate, signed by O’Brien, in the glove compartment of the dump truck that had been issued on June 20, 2019. O’Brien is referred to on the certificate as an “authorized inspection mechanic.”
Further investigation
As part of the investigation, police asked the province’s Motor Registration Division to conduct an inspection of the dump truck. An inspector looked at it at the scene and noticed the dump truck’s brake lights were “not working” on one side and were “dull” on the other side.
The dump truck was taken to a garage in Deer Lake and the inspector completed a further inspection of it on Aug. 7 and 8, 2019.
In his report to police, the inspector concluded there were several flaws in the inspection, including the failure to examine the vehicle’s odometer and that the dump truck should not have been issued an inspection certificate. He removed the inspection sticker.
He said he found the “number of deficiencies” to be “uncommon.”
Police charged O’Brien under the Official Inspection Station Regulations with having issued an inspection certificate without a proper inspection having been carried out.
The inspector testified at trial that the vehicle’s odometer displayed the same mileage as that recorded in O’Brien’s inspection certificate.
He also testified that some of the deficiencies he found could have been caused by events that occurred after O’Brien’s inspection. As a result, the inspector focused his attention on the stuff he knew could not be.
“The stuff that I knew had to have been there at the time of inspection.”
Testimony
O’Brien testified that he examined the vehicle on June 19 and 20, 2019 and it was the first time he had examined it. He said he found some defects, but “nothing too major.” The defects were corrected by the vehicle owner before he issued the certificate.
After his inspection was completed, he took the vehicle for a road test. O’Brien said nothing stood out and he was satisfied the vehicle could be safely operated. He conceded that he neglected to inspect the vehicle’s odometer to determine if it was functioning properly.
He said the defects found by the inspector, except for the odometer, were not present at the time he conducted his inspection.
Gorman said he had to decide if the Crown had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that O’Brien committed the actus reus of the offence and, if so, whether O’Brien established, that he acted with due diligence.
The offence is a strict liability one and Gorman concluded O’Brien failed to conduct a proper inspection on the dump truck.
“However, his failure to do so was limited solely to his failure to have inspected the vehicle’s odometer.” Otherwise, Gorman said, O'Brien conducted a thorough and proper inspection.
He also concluded that O’Brien has not established that he acted with due diligence.
“Though his inspection was otherwise without fault, a proper inspection required that the odometer be checked. His failure to do so illustrates a lack of due diligence.”
Gorman said these conclusions require that he enter a conviction. However, he doubted the charge would ever have been laid if the inspector had concluded that the only fault in O’Brien’s inspection was his failure to have checked the dump truck’s odometer.
Submissions on sentencing will be heard on Sept. 10.
