Finlay trailer campaign gets TV coverage

Published Date: 11 February 2009

A BBC programme has documented a family's campaign following the death of a four-year-old boy in Heage.

Finlay Martin was killed by a runaway trailer that had become detached from a car when he was walking down Old Road with his mother Zoe in July 2007.

The trailer was defective and contravened road vehicle regulations.

The BBC East Midlands Inside Out programme, aired on February 4, highlighted the campaign started by Heage councillor Juliette Blake and revealed the Government is aiming to include checks on towbars as part of the MoT for cars and vans, as a direct result of what happened to Finlay.

If the law gets changed in England, it will be called 'Finlay's Law'. But campaigners want the law to be changed even further so trailers have to undergo MoTs to ensure they are safe to be on the roads.

Since the incident, Cllr Blake, along with Finlay's parents Wayne and Zoe, have been campaigning for a change in the law.

Cllr Blake said: "This is a move in the right direction but I won't be satisfied until I get what I want, to take the millions of unroadworthy trailers off the street."

An inquest into Finlay's death revealed a number of faults with the trailer, including ineffective brakes. When the trailer was examined it was found to have no breakaway cable, a legal requirement which enables the trailer to brake if it comes away from the vehicle.

It was also found that, had it been fitted with such a device, it would have had no effect because the brakes were faulty.