Wheel rolled clear as driver pulled in
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1 • Wetherby mag istrates have given a Lancashire ownerdriver an absolute discharge after he admitted using a vehicle in a dangerous condition following a wheel-loss incident.
The court heard that a rigid truck driven by Ambrose Rayton lost its twin rear nearside wheels on the M62 earlier this year. One of the wheels rolled across to the central reservation.
Rayton said he contracted his maintenance to a self-employed fitter. The lost wheels had been replaced about a fortnight before the incident. Since then the fitter had checked the wheelnuts were tight and he himself had made daily checks.
On the day of the incident, said Rayton, he had seen the wheels begin to protrude and had immediately pulled on to the hard shoulder, but as he stopped one %■ heel rolled slowly clear. The other detached wheel remained against the hub.
John Backhouse, defending, told the magistrates that this was another example of wheel-loss syndrome, adding that TRRL research had shown it could hap pen with properly tightened wheels. It was no longer the case that "the facts speak for themselves" in wheel-loss incidents, as they could arise without any negligence by the operator or driver.
The magistrates expressed concern after being told that in about 3% of commercial vehicles wheels could come loose even when properly inspected, and when all the normal precautions had been taken.
Backhouse said that the causes of wheel-loss syndrome were still not clear, but the Government appeared unwilling to fund the necessary research because it was not a frequent occurrence.