Metal fatigue blamed at fatal accident inquiry
Page 20
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
METAL FATIGUE in the shaft of a 15-year-old trailer led to the deaths of two people decided the King's Lynn, Norfolk, Coroner last week.
Giving evidence in a case where a married couple were killed when their car was in collision with the trailer a DoE vehicle examiner, Mr John Hodges, told the Coroner that he examined a Volvo tractor unit and a King trailer. The connecting shaft from trailer to tractor had broken in two, he said.
He thought the trailer had been towed after the break by the flexible brake cables which had stretched and allowed the trailer to cross the road and hit the oncoming car. If they had snapped at the time of the shaft breaking the automatic brakes would have stopped the trailer, he added.
Mr Hodges said he thought there was a case for a safety chain connection on all similar units.
Reading from a report from a Home Office laboratory Chief Inspector R. J. Cordy said there were two cracks on the shaft neither of which was visible within the casing of the shaft. The fractures had extended over threequarters the length of the section and were long-standing. The shaft had finally broken just prior to the accident.
Chief Inspector Cordy said the report indicated that the design of the shaft could have contributed to metal fatigue and units of a similar age could have similar cracks. The trailer was thought to be about 15 years' old.
The driver of the unit, owned by Spinks Interfreight Ltd, Norwich, Mr Max Rowe, said he had checked the connections after delivering a concrete beam to King's Lynn. On the return journey he noticed a cloud of dust in his mirror. This was the first time he realized that anything was wrong with the trailer, he said. He found the trailer in a field and the couple trapped in their car.
The Coroner, describing the accident as a particularly horrible one, said it was extremely unfortunate that the shaft fractured at the precise moment it did. A verdict of accidental death was returned by the jury.
Following the inquest, a spokesman for Spinks Interfreight said the trailer was of indeterminate age, but as was common with vehicles of its type it did not do a heavy mileage. The trailer had been carefully maintained to a high standard to avoid any risk of failure or breakdown which could have resulted in lengthy and difficult transhipment of long beams.
He agreed with the suggestion that the fracture of the shaft could not have been foreseen and that no blame could reasonably be attached to anyone for the accident.