Loose-wheel liability
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I have worked as a self-employed commercial vehicle fitter for 20 years. One of my customers, a truck operator, has sent me an invoice for repairs to a vehicle on which, he says, I did not tighten up the wheel nuts sufficiently.
I have been invoiced for two spigot wheels, 10 wheel studs, 10 nuts and labour for changing wheels and tyres.
Who is liable for loose wheels — me, the driver or the vehicle operator?
And who is responsible for supplying specialised tools like a 600th torque wrench?
A Two kinds of liability are involved in this
case.
There is your liability in
civil law under the contract you had with the vehicle operator for maintaining his vehicles, and there is the criminal liability of the vehicle operator and driver when they use the vehicle on a road. These are two separate matters.
When you carry out work on the operator's vehicles you owe him a duty of care to do it properly and not in a negligent manner.
When fitting wheels to a truck your duty would be to secure the wheel nuts — to the correct torque figure — in such a way that the wheels would not come off the vehicle when it was used on a road.
Unless you had come to some other agreement with the vehicle operator, it would be reasonable to expect you, as the maintenance contractor, to provide the necessary tools and torque wrench to do the work.
If it was proved, on the balance of probabilities, that wheels came off a vehicle due to your negligence, then you would be liable and it would be open to the vehicle operator to sue you for damages.
The liability of the vehicle driver and operator under criminal law is that they must not use a vehicle on a road if all its parts and accessories are not in such a condition that no danger is caused, or is likely to be caused, to any person in the vehicle or on a road.
This could lead to a prosecution in a criminal court and, if the case was proved beyond reasonable doubt, a fine. This action could be taken even if there was no damage or injury to anyone.
Whether or not you have any liability in the case in question will depend on all the evidence provided by both parties.