Finding into death of Lloyd Douglas Hill
Deceased
Lloyd Douglas Hill
Demographics
26y, male
Date of death
2015-08-23
Finding date
2016-09-12
Cause of death
Mechanical asphyxia (chest crushed by car)
AI-generated summary
Lloyd Douglas Hill, a 26-year-old builder and car enthusiast, died from mechanical asphyxia when his chest was crushed by a car while working underneath it in a rural shed. He had reversed the vehicle onto homemade timber ramps without proper safety precautions: no wheel chocks, handbrake disengaged, and ramps without a flat top to prevent rolling. When he unbolted the rear-differential, the vehicle moved from park to neutral and rolled forward, trapping him between his mechanic's trolley and the vehicle's undercarriage. The coroner found the death preventable through adherence to basic safety measures—chocking wheels, engaging the handbrake, and using properly designed ramps. Since 2000, 28 Victorians have died in similar vehicle-related DIY incidents. This case highlights the need for improved safety awareness campaigns and clearer warning labels on equipment.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Contributing factors
- Failure to use wheel chocks to prevent vehicle rolling
- Handbrake not engaged
- Vehicle transmission in park only, not additionally secured
- Homemade ramps without flat or recessed top section to prevent rolling
- Improper safety precautions during DIY vehicle repair
Coroner's recommendations
- The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission should review the effectiveness of its national DIY vehicle safety campaign and consider further activities such as weekend radio advertisements to highlight safety issues
- WorkSafe Victoria should review its role in raising awareness amongst the Victorian community of important safety precautions for people engaging in do-it-yourself motor vehicle repairs
Full text
Related cases
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction —