Sewage truck company Cleanaway has been found guilty of failing to adequately train a driver who crashed and killed two people. 

The truck owned by Cleanaway Operations smashed into cars at the bottom of the South Eastern Freeway down track in August 2014. 

The driver lost control of the vehicle and was seriously injured in the crash. He initially had charges laid against him, but these were dropped in 2018. 

The driver then gave evidence against Cleanaway Operations when it was taken to court by Comcare for failing to adequately train him. 

The driver told the Adelaide Magistrates Court that the day of the crash was their first time driving a manual heavy vehicle or driving the steep downhill freeway track.

The driver undertook a two-day course at the G&L Heavy Vehicle Training Centre to obtain his licence, and had been working at Cleanaway Operations for just six days before the incident. 

The truck was travelling at 152 kilometres per hour when it collided with vehicles.

Accident investigator, George Rechnitzer, said the truck's brake linings were “very worn” and “should have been replaced prior to the collision”. 

“It was very unlikely the rear brakes were adequately serviced,” he told the court. 

Dr Rechnitzer said excess heat in the brakes may have resulted in the loss of braking. 

Magistrate Simon Smart found Cleanaway Operations guilty of failing to comply with their health and safety duty. 

“As the operator of heavy vehicles, the defendant ought reasonably to have known of the risk to heavy vehicles of brake failure on long downhill routes and the importance of gear selection in a manual vehicle to control the speed of the vehicle and also the importance of ensuring the competence of drivers to undertake such descents,” Magistrate Smart wrote. 

“There is clear evidence that [Cleanaway] did not provide such training, instruction or supervision whereby [the driver’s] competence to drive all routes he may be required to drive in the course of his work was properly determined.

“[Cleanaway] knew or ought to have known that the driver ... although the holder of an unrestricted heavy vehicle licence under the statutory scheme, had only recently obtained that licence and lacked practical experience in the driving of a manual heavy vehicle in particular and the driving of a heavy vehicle on the South Eastern Freeway.”

Cleanaway was guilty of eight counts of failing to comply with their health and safety duty. 

The matter will return to court in May.