Inquest looking at police safety after death of truck driver at Kings Park

A coroner is looking at the safety of the way police pull vehicles over, after the death of a father of seven who stumbled into traffic. 

An inquest into the death of Solomon Shortland, 56, heard he was stopped on Vardys Road at Kings Park, Sydney, in January last year by a highway patrol officer concerned about the unrestrained bags of cement on his tray.

In an in-car video played to the court, Mr Shortland can be seen standing beside his truck in one of two lanes, and can also be heard becoming upset after he is told he was being fined.

Moments later he pulled on a strap he’d thrown over the load, but because he hadn’t secured it on the other side there was no resistance and he stumbled backwards into the path of an oncoming truck.

Counsel Assisting Cameron Gardiner said that driver “did his best to veer to the right” but he couldn’t avoid Mr Shortland.

No charges were ever laid and that man later died of a rare form of cancer. 

Mr Gardiner said the inquest would look at several issues which included the safety of the location, the way Mr Shortland was pulled over and police policy in general. 

Several members of Mr Shortland’s family wiped away tears as the hearing began.

The court heard he was a deeply religious man and a “trusted and reliable” employee of General Flooring, where he had worked since the late 1990s.

The inquest continues.