Energy firm SP Electricity North West has been fined £5,000 after a road sign fell on a vehicle.
The company’s sub-contractors were carrying out work on Ullswater Road in Penrith on September 8 last year.
Network Plus and Cosmor Groundworks were carrying out the work near a high-speed road without appropriate traffic management in place.
A speed limit sign collapsed into the road and struck a passing vehicle.
The incident was caught on the vehicle’s dash-cam.
Following an investigation by Westmorland and Furness Council, SP Electricity North West was charged with offences relating to inadequate guarding and insufficient signs at the site.
The case was prosecuted by the authority and earlier this month, SP Electricity North West was fined £5,000 at Carlisle Magistrates Court.
It was ordered to pay £7,191.60 costs and a £2,000 surcharge.
Councillor Peter Thornton, cabinet member for highways and ICT, said: “The serious failings of the companies involved could have led to catastrophic events and it was only by pure luck no-one was seriously injured.”
A spokesman for SP Electricity North West said: “We take health and safety incredibly seriously and are no longer working with the subcontractor involved in this incident.
“We co-operated fully throughout the investigation, entered a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity and have spoken to all of our contractors to reinforce and remind them to always ensure they follow safe systems of work to maintain the high standards we set to keep the public safe around our essential work.”
