Licence cut following wheel loss incident
Article courtesy of routeONE magazine

Cumbrian coach operator Simpsons of Cockermouth has had his licence cut from two vehicles to one following a wheel loss incident while carrying schoolchildren.
Alfred Simpson, trading as Simpsons of 20 Whiteside Avenue, Cockermouth, Cumbria, was before the North Western Deputy Traffic Commissioner Mark Hinchcliffe at a St. Helens disciplinary inquiry.

Senior vehicle examiner Dennis Smith said that a maintenance investigation was carried out in October after a vehicle was given an ‘S’ marked prohibition, following a wheel loss incident. The nearside rear wheels had become detached as the vehicle negotiated a roundabout while transporting schoolchildren. The elongation of the holes indicated that the wheel nuts had not been tight prior to the commencement of the journey. Mr Simpson had claimed to have tightened the wheel nuts with a bar the previous afternoon but there was no evidence to support that.

The one vehicle in possession was examined and found to be in a satisfactory condition, said Mr Smith. The wall planner was not in use and there were no driver defect reports for the year 2003. Mr Simpson appeared to have abandoned the practice of daily walk round checks.
Mr Simpson said that he did a morning school run and then waited six and a half hours before undertaking the return journey and had done this for the last four years. He spent the time cleaning and checking over his coach and tapping the wheel nuts with a hammer.

Maintaining that he had been using the wall chart, Mr Simpson said that the vehicle was booked in with his maintenance contractor every six weeks for the next six months. Other drivers had told him that he did not need to make out defect reports if he did not find any defects. He was now filling in nil defect reports, he had attended a training course on walk round checks and he intended to purchase the VI video.


The day before the wheel loss incident he had checked the wheel nuts twice without finding any problem, said Mr Simpson.

He now checked the wheels nuts each morning and he was purchasing a torque wrench. In addition, a weekly wheel nut check was to be carried out by the maintenance contractor.
Cutting the licence after receiving a series of undertakings in relation to maintenance, including the use of wheel nut indicators, the Deputy Commissioner said that he did not believe that in the whole of the year there were no defects repaired following driver checks.

This article was originally published in routeONE on 26/02/04.