Sussex Police have issued a warning to all young drivers to take more care on the roads, following a road traffic accident which left a schoolgirl in hospital.

The incident took place in April 2011, as the 18 year old drove his Mercedes along a busy A road in central Eastbourne in East Sussex.

Unaware that his lane of traffic had slowed and come to a halt, Hassan Alaani drove straight into the back of the car in front of him, who had slowed to allow the 14 year old to safely cross the road at a marked crossing. The impact caused the stopped car to lurch forward, and hit the pedestrian.

Though the schoolgirl was subsequently released from hospital, her injuries were said to be serious, and would take a considerable time to recover fully from them. It is likely the psychological damage inflicted will take a good deal longer to recover from too.

A charge of careless driving was handed down to Alaani, at Eastbourne’s magistrates court, to which he pleaded guilty. As well as being banned for a period of nine months, he also has to pay court costs of £65 and has been fined £100.

Following the verdict, the Sussex Police used the forum to again underline that young drivers make up a high risk group with regards to serious accidents. Often leading to death and life changing injuries to both them, passengers, pedestrians and other road users, they are urged to take care and seek advanced driving courses having passed their test.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), has successfully prosecuted a Leicestershire based manufacturing company, following an accident at work which resulted in a man losing his left arm.

The incident took place at London Concrete Ltd’s Wapseys Wood site in Buckinghamshire, where the injured party and his supervisor were working to fix a ground boring machine, known as an auger.

As repair work continued, the machine’s starting mechanism was accidentally triggered by the supervisor, which wrenched off the fifty year old fitter’s arm at the elbow.

Though both men were experienced, the HSE investigation found that the auger’s power unit had wrongly been left connected to the power supply and that the company had failed to provide adequate information to the employees about the auger and its precise method of operation.

Further than this, the investigation also highlighted there had been a breakdown in the company’s safety procedures, that it had itself put in place.

The case, at Aylesbury Crown Court, awarded costs of £9,397 to HSE, and fined London Concrete £16,000, after it admitted they had breached the Health and Safety at Work Act

The case highlights the fact that many UK companies likely need to invest far greater efforts and resources into their approach to health and safety in the workplace.

Whilst it is one thing to have proven practices in place, the process for putting them into action when called for can often be left floundering, leaving employees at risk and employers exposed to litigation, costly damages and a tarnished reputation.