M42 INCIDENT HIGHLIGHTS THE NEED FOR OUR FULL-PROOF WHEEL SECURITY SYSTEM

By Gary Thomas, Group Director

A recent report in Commercial Motor about a worrying incident on the M42 simply highlights the serious issue of wheel detachment and shows these occurrences are still happening on a far too regular basis.

The episode in question saw a truck, operated by Barry Procter Services, forced to take evasive action after a runaway wheel bounced across the motorway and smashed into the cab. The driver was very lucky not to lose control, after being innocently caught up in what must have been a terrifying situation through no fault of their own.

The damage caused a hefty bill, in excess of £2,500, but it could have easily caused an even more catastrophic accident had the wheel hit a car or motorbike, rather than a sturdy truck.

We talk to commercial vehicle fleets about wheel loss issues all the time, and the response we often hear is ‘we’ve never lost a wheel before’. That may well be the case, but there are so many variants involved with keeping the wheel on – and so many potential risk factors which can cause the wheel to detach.

Homeowners up and down the land fit fire alarms in their houses, despite most of them never having had a fire before… And the principle here is just the same.

As Richard Leonard, of Highways England, says in the piece; walk-round checks and regular inspections are crucial. However, they are not a full-proof solution – human and mechanical errors can always occur and things can always be missed.

That’s why we’ve spent the last 10 years developing and refining our intelligent sensor technology, enabling a Wheely-Safe protected vehicle to alert the driver at the first sign of a wheel nut beginning to loosen – enabling them to pull over safely.

This unique sensor also addresses hub / brake fires – the second biggest area for truck / bus / trailer fires – because we can monitor the temperature in this area and alert the driver and the transport office (through telematics) of issues developing before any resultant ignition.

We are very excited in what we have developed and are convinced our multi-award-winning technologies will solve these key global vehicle safety issues once and for all.

Company Registration No. 12754234