An adventure activity and team building organisation has been fined after a child was hit by a car seriously injured whilst on a school trip.
Birmingham Magistrates’ Court were told that on 31 March 2017, a group of teenage students were participating in a walking expedition on the outskirts of Birmingham. The route chosen, meant the group and their adult supervisor, had to cross the busy A45 dual carriageway near Meriden, West Midlands, at around 4pm.
During a gap in the traffic, some of the students started crossing the road, but one of the pupils was struck by a car travelling in the outside lane. The 15-year-old survived, but suffered multiple fractures as a result of the collision.
Following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Freax, a Birmingham based adventure experience company, were found to have not planned the route to allow for safe passage across the dual carriageway. The company chose not to use a footbridge about 400 metres away as part of the expedition route.
The company was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £22,455.16 in costs.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Richard Littlefair said:
“Companies should make sure that challenging activities are managed in a sensible and proportionate way so that children are not exposed to unnecessary risk of serious personal injury or death.’’
