The incident occurred at around 1pm on Saturday afternoon and the driver, who local reports have named as 58-year-old Maurice Willis, died at 10pm that evening at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.
Mr Willis was carrying out a collection from a commercial client at a car park at Hawes Pier, when his vehicle began to roll into the road. The driver is thought to have attempted to climb back into the cab of the vehicle to stop it from rolling further but was fatally crushed against a wall by the moving lorry.
The collection vehicle then hit a parked car before rolling across the road, destroying some fencing before coming to a halt hanging over the edge of the pier.
Investigation
Police Scotland has launched an investigation to establish how the incident came about, and has appealed for any witnesses who may not already have spoken to officers to come forward.
Sergeant Brian Smith, from Police Scotland’s Edinburgh Road Policing Unit, said: “This tragic accident happened as the driver tried to stop his lorry from rolling out of the car park of the Hawes Inn.
“He was crushed against the wall by the lorry, which then hit a parked Jaguar car before rolling across the road and mounting the pavement, demolishing a bench and fencing before it came to rest hanging over the edge of the pier.
“Although this is a busy road, with a number of pedestrians in the area at the time, fortunately no one else was injured. We are carrying out a full investigation and I am appealing for any witnesses who have not already spoken to us, to call Police Scotland on 101.”
Biffa
A spokesman for Biffa expressed the company’s shock at the incident and added that the firm is carrying out its own investigation into the circumstances leading to the driver’s death.
The spokesman said: “This tragic incident has shocked everyone at Biffa and we send our heartfelt condolences to the family and close friends.
“Naturally, we will work with the police to try and understand the circumstances behind the incident, whilst also carrying out our own full internal investigation.”
The Health & Safety Executive has confirmed that it is not involved in the investigation at this stage as the incident has so far been logged as a road traffic collision.
The death is thought to be the second involving a collection driver being crushed by his own vehicle in as many months, after a driver for waste management firm Cawleys was killed in Watford in October (see letsrecycle.com story).
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