Chalker turns down wheel stud money
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THE DEPARTMENT of Transport has again refused to allocate funds for research into wheel stud failure.
In a letter to Conservative MP Sir William Clark, Transport Minister Lynda Chalker said the problem is too small to justify support from the DTp's limited research budget.
She said the DTp will issue guidance soon on how operators can improve maintenance standards, and this will be produced as soon as information from vehicle manufacturers is available.
But she went on: "The number of reported accidents involving wheel security failure is not large, and the vehicle manufacturers themselves have both a commercial incentive and large resources to find ways of improving wheel fixing designs."
The DTp always considered the scale of a problem and "alternative ways" of making progress before allocating research funds for road safety.