http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/news/Wheels-fell-off-Stagecoach-buses.6726896.jp
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
"Wheels fell off Stagecoach buses, inquiry told"
(6 posts)-
Posted 13 years ago #
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it happens, thankfully not as often as it used to.Legally, a VISUAL check is required by the driver at the start of any day/shift/journey, any wheel removal,(tyre replacement etc ) requires a retorque of ones nuts.
Truck and bus wheels are very heavy, if you add in the momentum they may have, they are vvvvv dangerous. If you see one come off, run/cycle/drive away, fast !There are visual checks that a driver can check, that i dont need to go into here but generally a driver should be able to spot if a wheel nut,or series of them is loose. With a major psv company then I imagine that the vehicle would be deemed vor and an engineer called. But !one weak wheel stud or indeed a weak or cracked wheel can be difficult to detect, and as for hearing a loose wheel then thats highly unlikely before it starts rattling visually.Wheels can crack between studs, be invisible to the naked eye, but with use the wheel expands(heat ) and the crack widens, extends and bang, a 50mph projectile !
I once saw a rear axle let go and two wheels came loose, one went through a brick bus stop,almost destroying it and the other went almost half a mile into a field of very nervous sheep.
be carefull out there !Posted 13 years ago # -
There's a youtube video of a man filling his car with petrol getting taken out by a stray coach / lorry wheel bouncing across the garage forecourt. Painful looking.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Reminds me of a bus journey in Leeds 20 years ago. A wheel came off a dustbin lorry and hit the side of our bus, where the stair was, so no broken glass thankfully. We had to wait for a replacement bus, some 30 mins, and I had a heck of a time explaining to the boss why I was late. This was before mobile phones, or at least affordable ones for a YTS employee.
Posted 13 years ago # -
I saw the rear offside wheel of a Austin Allegro come off on the M8 just around Govan. The wheel sped along the hard shoulder and fortunately did not collide with anything. The rear wheel of the Allegro was meanwhile providing an impromptu spark display. I believe the Allegro was notorious for this wheel problem amongst others.
Posted 13 years ago # -
My old man worked for RACAL (who founded Vodafone). He brought a "mobile" phone home once that they had lended him for when they used to drive down to HQ in Reading. It was mobile in the sense that you could drive it round in a car, it fitted nicely in the passenger foot well! The wheels stayed on the car.
Posted 13 years ago #
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