Page 38 - Commercial Vehicle Engineer - June 2021

WHEEL NUT SECURITY
CRACKING
A NUTTY PROBLEM
Wheel loss incidents are relatively rare, but when they do occur, the effects can be devastating. However, diligent checks and simple pieces of technology can help to ensure that wheel nuts stay in their intended position. By Dan Parton
A pregnant mother and her young daughter
had a lucky escape last October. As they ate in a fast-food restaurant in a retail
park in Tamworth, Staffordshire, a wheel became detached from a truck cornering a nearby roundabout and bounced into her parked car.
Alex Turrell told the Birmingham Mail she “shuddered to think” what would have happened if she had been in the car at the time. Her car was heavily damaged, and another parked next to it also suffered damage. The truck that lost a wheel didn’t stop.
This example shows what can happen when a wheel detaches from a truck on the move. Some aren’t as lucky as Turrell;
estimated figures from Wheely-Safe Ltd, which manufactures a sensor that detects loosening when nuts, state there are between 7,500-11,000 wheel fixing defects per year, which causes between 150 and 400 wheel detachments, which are responsible for between three and seven fatal accidents.
The DVSA takes a dim view of wheel loss and failures could lead to the suspension or revocation of an O-licence.
38 JUNE 2021 > COMMERCIAL VEHICLE ENGINEER