Montracon van lost wheels
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A wheel-loss incident cost Doncaster trailer manufacturer Montracon and one of its drivers, Arthur Cope, £840 in fines and costs after they pleaded guilty to using a vehicle in a dangerous condition.
Barnsley magistrates heard that when the police attended the scene of an accident on the M1 in January they found Cope's van parked on the hard shoulder. Both its rear offside wheels were missing— one was on the grass embankment; the other was on the central reservation.
An examination of the wheels showed that the studs had sheared and two of the stud holes had become elongated. In the opinion of the vehicle examiner the wheels had been insecure for some time.
Andrew Woolfall, defending, said that although the vehicle had been about due for its six-weekly preventive maintenance inspection, the wheelnirts had been
checked 10 days previously as part of an intermediate programme. The driver had carried out his daily check that morning and there had been nothing to suggest that the wheels had been loose for any length of time.
When the contracted dealer examined the wheels he was of the opinion that the wheelnuts had been aver-tightened, causing the studs to stretch, and that detachment would have occurred very rapidly.
Montracon was fined 1600 and Cope 1160, both with £40 costs, and Copes driving licence was endorsed with three points.