Lost wheels
Page 26
Page 27
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Iwas pleased to read in last week's CM that the DOT's report on wheel detachment from commercial vehicles has finally been published (CM 9-15 July).
I am delighted to see that the survey supports what my company has been saying about the incidence of wheel loss in the UK for seven years.
Just to remind you, Disc. Lock Europe commissioned wheel loss expert Don Wright to investigate the level of wheel loss from commercial vehicles in 1991. Using a number of sources, including the Motorway Police, he estimated that "the number of HGV wheel loss incidents throughout the UK would be in the range of
2,100-3,200, many of which would go unreported". He also estimated that the number of deaths as a direct result of wheels becoming detached from HGVs was between five and 10.
From 1991 until the present, these statistics have been the only figures available in the UK. It is heartening to know that they were, and are, still pretty accurate. Based on your report, it looks as if roughly 1,800 loose wheel incidents take place each year. But when you bear in mind that many incidents go unreported— and [know this is the case because operators and drivers tell me about their experiences on a weekly basis—I think we can safely continue to estimate that about 2,000 or more take place each year.
Whatever the cause of wheel los,s—and my company believes it to be chiefly due to vibration caused by road shock— it is about time full-scale research took place into its causes. Disc-Lock Europe is currently helping to fund an independent test, organised by the Wheel Security Working Group of the IRTE, on stud and nut assemblies to monitor the effects that settlement has on the security of wheels. But when are the vehicle manufacturers going to take their heads out of the sand, admit that there is a problem and do something about it? Or are they frightened of potential litigation?
RJ Hope, Managing director, Disc-Loch Europe, Sittingbourne.