my friend was involved in a wheel off accident he done his daily checks on the day and day before seen no signs of loose nuts (no markers on nuts) took it out drove 60+ miles then lost his rear nearside wheels company straight away blaimed him saying he didnt do his checks properly anyway few days later friend calls to say company have done thorough accident investigation and have come to the conclusion that due to the servere ellongation of the wheels he is at fault as this should of been vissually seen days prior to accident therefore he failed to do his daily checks propperly.also say that they checked paperwork and the back wheels wernt took of for maintance in 6 months so he cant blaim retorque
my questions are:
can they prove this just using ellongation
2.where dose my friend stand if his to fight this
disaplinary hearing so could be sacked but he says they want him to take the responsabily for accident iv told him never take responsabilty for any accident unless theres viable evidence prooving his liable
The maintenance on the vehicle is defective and this isn’t altered by the fact that you… er, I mean your friend… did not notice that the wheel was starting to loosen during the walk round check. I would suggest that you… er I mean your friend… make it clear to the company that if they attempt to hang you out to dry over this, then you will co-operate in every way possible with DVSA to get their O licence revoked.
that is wat my friend thinks that they saying that wheels aint been off to hide the fact that they have but forgot to retorque so instead blaim the drivers checks lol and yes this info is for a friend who is in a bit of a stte at mo so iv come on here to try help him
paddy1984:
my friend was involved in a wheel off accident he done his daily checks on the day and day before seen no signs of loose nuts (no markers on nuts) took it out drove 60+ miles then lost his rear nearside wheels company straight away blaimed him saying he didnt do his checks properly anyway few days later friend calls to say company have done thorough accident investigation and have come to the conclusion that due to the servere ellongation of the wheels he is at fault as this should of been vissually seen days prior to accident therefore he failed to do his daily checks propperly.also say that they checked paperwork and the back wheels wernt took of for maintance in 6 months so he cant blaim retorque
my questions are:
can they prove this just using ellongation
2.is it vissually possible to see that a nut has just became loose without markers
3.where dose my friend stand if his to fight this
Some useful info here on the subject. Your mate has a right to a disciplinary hearing and can have someone with him at that meeting. He must be provided with ALL relevant information in the companys’ possession such as the engineers report regarding elongation and must also be provided with a copy of the company disciplinary procedure. In this day and age it comes across as unbelievable penny pinching to not have wheel markers. In this instance this incident alone would probably keep a company going in wheel markers for years…
Roverman:
I think they might be telling porkies if they say the wheel hadn’t been removed for any reason in 6 months?
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I’ve got wheels that have not been off in 18 months .
Yes, back in the day CTR used to replace trailer tyres without removing the wheel, and on long-distance continental work there was minimal wear to brakes and bearings so wheels would not be removed for years. If a tyre did get a puncture while out on the road and the driver needed to change it then the wheel would normally be rusted solid to the hub and could only be removed by taking off all of the wheelnuts and then driving round in a circle until the wheel fell off.
Why oh why don’t these companies use wheel markers, immediately obvious then if there’s a problem.
Company supply properly calibrated torque wrench and correct sockets for drivers to check wheel nuts?
Tyre workshop easily available for re-torques if not?
No regular inspections by tyre company?
Come on, give the company (the big bad nasty man who pays your wages) a break.
A wheel that comes of in 60 mile has been already loose. (For a while)
The driver has done his walk around check (and no more than that, walked around) but clearly doesn’t have a clue how to inspect wheelnuts and how to see the marks that indicates a loose nut.
Those plastic wheelnuts markers, don’t even mention, drivers rely to much on them, the ones who cover the whole nut are evil (have seen a complete loose nut under them.)
The other ones, have came across “drivers” who put them “right” when out position.
What is wrong with the drivers nowadays■■?
For 50 odd years we had never markers (and you will see them very rare on trucks from the continent) we used visual and acoustic.
I always tap them (and the tyres for pressure) and every time I leave the truck, walk away on the O/S and give them a glance and walk back on the N/S and give them a glance on that side.
Look for wear around the nut, rust marks, it’s so easy.
So yes a driver which loose wheelnuts should loose his license, and if somebody got injured the courts take a very dim view on this, as it is driver RESPONSIBILITY!
paddy1984:
disaplinary hearing so could be sacked but he says they want him to take the responsabily for accident iv told him never take responsabilty for any accident unless theres viable evidence prooving his liable
Your mate clearly didn’t check the nuts whatsoever as they don’t go from being ok to a wheel falling off in the space of 60 miles do they.
Many moons ago it was a early finish on Friday or a Saturday morning check your nuts job even before I had me class 1 whilst on 7.5t we would check them and before the pointers being used a blob of white paint was used to mark the nut alinghment
nick2008:
Many moons ago it was a early finish on Friday or a Saturday morning check your nuts job even before I had me class 1 whilst on 7.5t we would check them and before the pointers being used a blob of white paint was used to mark the nut alinghment
Or give them a tap there’s a difference in sound .
nick2008:
Many moons ago it was a early finish on Friday or a Saturday morning check your nuts job even before I had me class 1 whilst on 7.5t we would check them and before the pointers being used a blob of white paint was used to mark the nut alinghment
Or give them a tap there’s a difference in sound .
paddy1984:
disaplinary hearing so could be sacked but he says they want him to take the responsabily for accident iv told him never take responsabilty for any accident unless theres viable evidence prooving his liable
Your mate clearly didn’t check the nuts whatsoever as they don’t go from being ok to a wheel falling off in the space of 60 miles do they.
nick2008:
Many moons ago it was a early finish on Friday or a Saturday morning check your nuts job even before I had me class 1 whilst on 7.5t we would check them and before the pointers being used a blob of white paint was used to mark the nut alinghment
Or give them a tap there’s a difference in sound .
Harry Monk:
The maintenance on the vehicle is defective and this isn’t altered by the fact that you… er, I mean your friend… did not notice that the wheel was starting to loosen during the walk round check. I would suggest that you… er I mean your friend… make it clear to the company that if they attempt to hang you out to dry over this, then you will co-operate in every way possible with DVSA to get their O licence revoked.
I agree. The purpose of walk-around checks is not to shift responsibility for mechanical soundness onto drivers - it’s for the benefit of road users, simply to check whether things are obviously out of order. A tyre completely flat or wheel missing, that sort of thing.
Unless the company can show that the wheel was obviously out of order (and in the absence of markers they won’t be able to show that), and that it was obviously out of order at the time of the check (the key words being obvious and at-the-time, meaning visually unmistakeable to a person giving a cursory look in the morning), then the driver should simply maintain that their checks were done properly and that’s the end of it from the driver’s point of view.
Edit: to the OP, advise your friend to ask his manager what the wheel nuts looked like when the daily check was done. In all likelihood the manager has never actually seen a wheel worked loose (I haven’t), let alone have any evidence that the looseness was obvious during the driver’s check, since there were no markers.
The supposed rustiness of loose wheel nuts is something I’ve only ever heard mentioned in theory, and many wheels are rusty anyway, and inside the hub of the rear wheels is difficult to see closely and from a perspective.
