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Wheel-loss discharge • TNT Express UK was given an absolute

4th February 1993
Page 23
Page 23, 4th February 1993 — Wheel-loss discharge • TNT Express UK was given an absolute
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discharge for using a vehicle with dangerous parts after Towcester magistrates accepted the company was not to blame for a tractive unit losing its nearside driving wheels on the Ml.

The court was told that no other vehicles were involved. When police arrived at the scene the wheels were found against the crash barrier. A subsequent examination revealed that the hub, studs, wheel and tyre were all in good condition.

TNT fielld engineer James Laird produced the service records. He said the tractive unit had been serviced in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations and the wheelnuts had been torqued up to the required specification.

For TNT, Michael Cunning ham said that the high standard of its maintenance and servicing had contributed to the award of BS5750. Quality assurance was the name of the game. The company had a 98.5% first-time pass rate at annual test, which compared favourably with the national average of 75%.

Cunningham referred the magistrates to trade press articles concerning what had become known as the "lost wheels phenomenon". He produced Commercial Motor reports where hauliers and drivers had been given absolute discharges in circumstances of unexplained wheel loss.

TNT had not been culpable and was morally blameless, Cunningham told the court.

He said that in the case of Hart vs Bex the High Court had laid down that where defendants were morally blameless for offences of absolute liability, such as this, it was inappropriate to impose any penalty


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