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IRTE drops wheel-fix prize

27th January 2000
Page 12
Page 12, 27th January 2000 — IRTE drops wheel-fix prize
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

• by Peter Lawton Operators entries into an IRTE safety design competition were so disappointing that the judging panel is not awarding the £5,000 cash prize.

The institute received 20 entries for the competition to find a more effective wheel fixing design than the nut and stud system, but felt that none had made any significant headway with the problem.

The IRTE does not want to reveal the competition entrants' names or those of the judging panel, which unanimously decided not to make an award.

Clive Price of the IRTE's engineering executive says of the entries: They all addressed the symptoms rather than the illness."

He says the panel, made up of eminent figures from the Department at Transport, the IRTE, the Motor Industry Research Association and the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, was looking for an improved spigot fixing design which would hold wheels fast without a need for "frequent preventative maintenance".

Brake, the road safety campaign group, has highlighted the dangers posed by loosening wheel nuts in its campaign Lost Wheels, Lost lives. It points to evidence that there are as many as 2,000 incidents a year, killing as many as 10 people.

Director Mary Williams says action from governments nationally and internationally is needed in conjunction with manufacturers, adding: "It is disappointing that the IRTE initiative hasn't produced a result."

The bulk of the entries were from operators, with 17 out of 20 working to prevent movement in a traditional nut and stud fixing system.

The judging panel felt the remaining three had failed to meet the competition's criteria.


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