Lorry driver accident

JustMe18

My husband is a lorry driver, never had any points, has licence for 21 year , not even small accident etc, but just had accident at work, was driving on a village road, speed around 40 , very sunny and frosty morning. Another lorry in front, turned on the bend, he didn’t see it after the bend and because of traffic control front lorry suddenly stopped after the bend and my husband bumped it’s back, despite him breaking , road was slippery and it’s a hill as well. There wasn't any warning about manual traffic controllers or road works, we double checked this. His lorry is damaged, but hopefully repairable, the other lorry didn't suffer any damage, so I guess there won't be even a claim from that side.

What could be consequences at work , he is currently off sick, has broken thumb, injured leg etc
worried he can be fired…he has been with the company almost 3 years, never had any investigations.  He is happy to go to additional training or cover the expenses of repair of the lorry.
Worth to mention, his targets are  always excellent, his manager just did his yearly review  on the same day as he  did his investigation and he said he would get best pay rise, but still need to wait for an outcome of investigation. 
Are we overthinking? We are also buying a house and I'm pregnant, so worth to panic. 
Read their policy and basically it says "general misconduct" is if you drive carelessly and damage company's property, but gross misconduct" if you do the same deliberately and drive dangerously.
Other possible scenario is 1st written warning. 

El_Torro

He could be fired if his employer believes that the accident was due to his negligence. Accidents happen though, being fired simply for being involved in an accident shouldn't happen. 

Factors like his length of service, how he is considered at work and how easy he would be to replace play a factor too. 

JustMe18

El_Torro said:

He could be fired if his employer believes that the accident was due to his negligence. Accidents happen though, being fired simply for being involved in an accident shouldn't happen. 

Factors like his length of service, how he is considered at work and how easy he would be to replace play a factor too. 

No, definitely not negligence, he is always on of the best workers and never been involved in anything. The front driver also agreed she had to do emergency stopping, with even a smoke from her wheels, as traffic regulator suddenly changed from “go” to “stop” and she was close to the next car. But not sure if she will repeat the same later, but probably her tacho can also be checked. 

LightFlare

Factually he wasn’t driving at a safe enough distance from the vehicle In front so could arguably be accused of negligence.

Be grateful it was a lorry in front and not a car 

Did the police attend and what have they said ?

JustMe18

LightFlare said:

Factually he wasn’t driving at a safe enough distance from the vehicle In front so could arguably be accused of negligence.

Be grateful it was a lorry in front and not a car 

Did the police attend and what have they said ?

Yes, police attended. His distance can be can be taken from tacho. If front lorry was behind the bend and suddenly stopped, clearly distance won’t help on a slippery road, hill and sunny conditions where you can hardly see anything. 

oldernonethewiser

JustMe18 said:

LightFlare said:

Factually he wasn’t driving at a safe enough distance from the vehicle In front so could arguably be accused of negligence.

Be grateful it was a lorry in front and not a car 

Did the police attend and what have they said ?

Yes, police attended. His distance can be can be taken from tacho. If front lorry was behind the bend and suddenly stopped, clearly distance won’t help on a slippery road, hill and sunny conditions where you can hardly see anything. 

If someone wanted they could argue that a driver would take all that into account to ensure a safe stopping distance at all times.  ( I appreciate that real life is not like that but worth pointing out)

JustMe18

oldernonethewiser said:

JustMe18 said:

LightFlare said:

Factually he wasn’t driving at a safe enough distance from the vehicle In front so could arguably be accused of negligence.

Be grateful it was a lorry in front and not a car 

Did the police attend and what have they said ?

Yes, police attended. His distance can be can be taken from tacho. If front lorry was behind the bend and suddenly stopped, clearly distance won’t help on a slippery road, hill and sunny conditions where you can hardly see anything. 

If someone wanted they could argue that a driver would take all that into account to ensure a safe stopping distance at all times.  ( I appreciate that real life is not like that but worth pointing out)

Yes I understand, he has auto stopping in his lorry, but even that didn’t help, so basically he was sliding down the hill 

Marcon

Accidents happen and realistic employers recognise that fact. If your husband is a good and diligent worker with no history of being a negligent driver, and nobody was hurt in the accident, he might get a warning (not least because the employer's insurance might require them to do that), but hopefully nothing worse - but the only way to know is for him to talk to his employer. Speculation here isn't knowledge!

oldernonethewiser

JustMe18 said:

oldernonethewiser said:

JustMe18 said:

LightFlare said:

Factually he wasn’t driving at a safe enough distance from the vehicle In front so could arguably be accused of negligence.

Be grateful it was a lorry in front and not a car 

Did the police attend and what have they said ?

Yes, police attended. His distance can be can be taken from tacho. If front lorry was behind the bend and suddenly stopped, clearly distance won’t help on a slippery road, hill and sunny conditions where you can hardly see anything. 

If someone wanted they could argue that a driver would take all that into account to ensure a safe stopping distance at all times.  ( I appreciate that real life is not like that but worth pointing out)

Yes I understand, he has auto stopping in his lorry, but even that didn’t help, so basically he was sliding down the hill 

I appreciate that and hopefully his employers will too.  I can't honestly see he has anything to be concerned about.

$h!t happens and we all have to deal with it.

maxmycardagain

if every driver who had a bump got sacked there would be many more unemployed out there, however....

my mate sat in his 7.5tonner at a M1 exit island behind a car, the next thing its 3 days later, hes in hospital, an articulated 40tonner had ran into him from behind at full pelt pushing him into the car in front which shot forward ont the island causing chaos, my mate was off work 6 months and settled for £30,000 compo, the errant trucker was sacked and prosecuted, lost his licence...

it only takes a minute babe, to quote the song

it rather depends on your husbands boss and thier relationship at work

JustMe18

oldernonethewiser said:

JustMe18 said:

oldernonethewiser said:

JustMe18 said:

LightFlare said:

Factually he wasn’t driving at a safe enough distance from the vehicle In front so could arguably be accused of negligence.

Be grateful it was a lorry in front and not a car 

Did the police attend and what have they said ?

Yes, police attended. His distance can be can be taken from tacho. If front lorry was behind the bend and suddenly stopped, clearly distance won’t help on a slippery road, hill and sunny conditions where you can hardly see anything. 

If someone wanted they could argue that a driver would take all that into account to ensure a safe stopping distance at all times.  ( I appreciate that real life is not like that but worth pointing out)

Yes I understand, he has auto stopping in his lorry, but even that didn’t help, so basically he was sliding down the hill 

I appreciate that and hopefully his employers will too.  I can't honestly see he has anything to be concerned about.

$h!t happens and we all have to deal with it.

Everyone keeps saying him at work, that most important is his health right now. So I guess they are expecting him to come back to work, as his boss asked when he is coming back.