Employer liable after worker fell asleep at wheel

The Court of Appeal awarded an interim payment of £400,000 this week to Michael Eyres, who was flung from his van after momentarily falling asleep. Final damages will be assessed at a later hearing.

Lord Justice Ward, who gave the ruling of the Court of Appeal, said Mr Eyres - who was 20 at the time of the accident on the M1 in 2004 - was "in that predicament because his employers had put him there".

At the same time, his final award was to be reduced by 33% because of his own contributory negligence in not wearing a seat belt and knowing he was at risk of falling asleep after working for 19 hours.

The court heard how Craig Atkinson, the 28-year-old managing director of Bradford-based Atkinsons Kitchens and Bedrooms, was with Mr Eyres as a passenger at the time of the crash, and that he too was asleep.

Lord Justice Ward said: "Mr Atkinson's saying 'Eating's cheating' and 'You can sleep when you're dead' summed up the company's philosophy."

The judge described the company as "young and successful". He added: "Its success was no doubt based upon hard work and the clear impression... was that long hours, resulting in good money, were accepted by all to be normal.'"

Texting at the wheel

He and two other appeal judges overturned a High Court ruling that Mr Eyres was to blame for the accident because he was using a mobile telephone.

The judges heard how on the day of the accident Mr Eyres had arrived at work at 3.30am after just four and a half hours' sleep. He then set off with Mr Atkinson to fit a kitchen in Swindon, Wilts, 111 miles away. The pair shared the driving and work, which was finished at 2.30pm when Mr Atkinson said they had another job in Sidmouth, Devon, 122 miles away. They finished at 7pm, when Mr Eyres began the drive home.

He told Mr Atkinson he was "knackered" and asked if they were going to find somewhere to stay the night. But the judge said Mr Eyres raised no serious objection to travelling home and was "quite content to do the driving". Mr Atkinson had asked him twice during the journey if he "was all right".

Just 32 miles short of home, Mr Eyres braked suddenly and lost control of his van, which overturned. His back was broken and doctors say that he will not walk again for the rest of his life.

In the High Court in Leeds last year, Mr Justice Crane said Mr Eyres' driving was "grossly irresponsible and dangerous". The High Court was told that his average speed was 83mph on the motorway and he had received and sent text messages while at the wheel. Mr Eyres told the High Court judge he had not used his mobile phone for more than 20 minutes before the accident.

Employers warned

Lord Justice Ward said that on the balance of probabilities, the cause of the accident was not using a mobile phone but falling asleep.

Mr Eyres' solicitor, Daniel Herman, of Stewarts Solicitors in Leeds, said: "What this case shows is that employers who cause or permit their employees to work very long hours and drive at times when they are likely to be very tired could be liable if that tiredness leads to an accident.

"It has been accepted for decades that it is not safe to allow, for example, a factory employee to use machinery for hours at a time because of the risk of injury. Driving is also a potentially dangerous activity and employers need to take reasonable steps to ensure that their employees are safe."

He said that the hours of HGV drivers were tightly controlled, but that there was no similar statutory rules for drivers of small vans.