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Wheelnuts cost 2200 apiece
Page 22
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Two missing wheelnuts cost Carlisle lorry driver Scott Thompson £400 in fines and costs.
Thompson initially denied using a dangerous vehicle but subsequently changed his plea to guilty when he appeared before Leyland magistrates.
Prosecuting for the Vehicle Inspectorate, John Heaton said that an artic belonging to Carlisle operator Michael Forster. and driven by Thompson, was stopped in a check on the A59 at Samlesbury, Lancashire.
When the vehicle was inspected it was found that two of the 10 wheel studs fitted to the front nearside had broken off.
The surface areas of the stud remnants were corroded extensively, indicating that the defects were of a longstanding nature. The obvious danger was the risk of the wheel coming off.
Heaton pointed out that it was the driver's duty to carry out a walk-round check each morning. This would include ensuring that the wheelnuts were all present. It it was dark the driver could use a torch, he added.
For Thompson, Paolo Passerini said that he had picked up the vehicle on a cold, wet morning at 05:00hrs.
He claimed to have done a walk-round check and he dis
puted that the absence of the wheelnuts was very noticeable. The yard was very muddy and lit by only one small light.
An engineer's report confirmed that the wheel would not necessarily have fallen off but it did say that the absence of the wheelnuts was potentially dangerous.
Thompson's employment at Forster's had ended, said Passerini. He had made complaints about the condition of a number of vehicles, including this one.
Fining Thompson £250 and ordering him to pay £150 prosecution costs, the magistrates said that in their opinion the walk-round check had not been carried out but, if it had, it had not been adequate.