Dangerous parts discharge
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• Rothwell-based Vanguard Vehicle Services and one of the company's drivers have been given an absolute discharge by Pontefract magistrates for using a vehicle with dangerous parts.
Prosecutor Roger Clapham told the court that two wheels had become detached from the trailer's offside first axle on the M62 at Pontefract.
A police officer's report said the wheels became detached as the wheelnuts were not tight enough.
Driver Hans Heinz said the accident happened on his first day back after Christmas. Before starting his journey he checked all the wheel nuts by tapping them with a hammer and tightening them with a bracket if the nuts made a different sound.
Consultant engineer Ivan Ratcliffe said wheel detachments were not a question of bad maintenance and it was a problem known to the industry for the past 10 years. He believes design was the problem and nothing could be done until this was changed.
The British Standards Institution has issued new recommendations, with an increased stud size, but manufacturers have not adopted them.
Defending, Gary Hodgson said neither the company or driver had been negligent. Heinz inspected wheelnuts daily, he had no warning or reason to suspect anything was wrong.