Lost whee discharge
Page 14
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Selby magistrates gave Loud Vale Haulage and its driver Stephen Slater absolute discharges and found special reasons for not endorsing Slater's driving licence after Slater and the company admitted using a vehicle with dangerous parts.
The charges arose after a Loud Vale tractive unit lost both wheels from its nearside rear axle at Fairburn on the Al last October.
One wheel crossed the cartiageway and hit a Transit van. Eight of the 10 wheelnuts were recovered and had clearly spun off in a very short distance.
Slater said that he had changed the wheels the previous Sunday after finding a puncture. He had tightened the wheelnuts with a brace and a three-foot bar, and his father, a director of the company, later torqued the wheelnuts up to 610 Nm (4501bft) using a torque wrench.
The following day, after reaching Scunthorpe at noon, he again tightened each wheelnut with a brace and bar and was satisfied that they were tight. He checked the nuts of all the other wheels and they were also tight. He stopped overnight at Hartlepool, setting off early the following morning. He did not see or hear anything to make him suspect that the wheelnuts were coming loose, until he heard a bang and saw the wheels come past him.
Producing an IRTE report, consultant engineer David Rimmer said that CV wheels could become detached without any blame or negligence on the part of the operator or driver. Although it was better to check the tightness of wheelnuts with a torque wrench, that was not practical out on the road.
John Backhouse, defending, said that in the case of Hart vs Bex, the High Court had said that defendants who were morally blameless of offences of absolute liability such as these ought to be given absolute discharges.
He showed the court a Commercial Motor report of a decision by Leeds Crown Court, setting aside fines imposed on Barnes & Tipping in almost identical circumstances. (CM 1-7 March 1990).
The magistrates were satisfied that neither Loud Vale nor Slater had been to blame.