Motor Wheel Service Distribution (MWSD) has welcomed the Department for Transport’s report into wheel safety and the government’s classification of CV wheels as ‘safety critical’. However the company remains sceptical of the report’s findings and industry awareness of the issue. MWSD has long campaigned for legislation requiring operators to carry out more stringent checks on commercial vehicle wheels to be introduced.
Motor Wheel Service Distribution’s (MWSD) commercial vehicle wheel safety campaign has been successfully incorporated in the new European Union (EU) Roadworthiness Package, which will become law in May 2014. The new law, adopted by both the European Parliament and European Council, states: “compatibility between parts and components, such as between wheels and wheel hubs, should be treated as a critical safety item and should be checked during roadworthiness testing.”
Paul Goggins MP has died just over a week after collapsing while jogging with his son on New Year’s eve. Member of Parliament for Wythenshawe and Sale East, Greater Manchester, Goggins was respected in Westminster and known in the tyre and wheel industry for his for his efforts to raise the standards of checks on HGV wheels and their suppliers. Indeed it was this work that won him the Parliamentarian of the Month’ award which was presented by road safety charity Brake and Direct Line.
Motor Wheel Service boss John Ellis is continuing to campaign for safety checks on second hand and take-off wheels entering the UK commercial vehicle market; the company estimates that over 10,000 such wheels enter the UK aftermarket every year, of which it says the large majority are sold by companies who do not possess the technical abilities or examination procedures to ascertain the history and fatigue of a wheel. His local MP Paul Goggins, with whom he has discussed the problem since 2010, will continue the debate with Mike Penning MP, parliamentary under-secretary of State at the Department for Transport, in Westminster Hall on Tuesday 29 November.
Paul Goggins, Labour MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East, has been awarded ‘Parliamentarian of the Month’ by road safety charity Brake and Direct Line. The award is said to have been presented in recognition of his efforts to raise the issue of regulation for heavy goods vehicle wheel safety in parliament.
In June 2010, Paul was approached by Motor Wheel Service because the firm was concerned about the lack of regulation to ensure the safety of second hand heavy goods vehicle wheels. They believe that there has been a rise of approximately 10,000 substandard second hand HGV wheels entering the UK market per year. Paul is concerned that there are no guarantees that these second hand wheels are safe because while tyres are heavily regulated to ensure they meet minimum standards of safety, wheels are not.
Tomorrow (Tuesday 29 March 2011) between 13:30 and 14.00, MP Paul Goggins, will lead a debate on road vehicle wheel safety in Westminster Hall. The debate is expected to focus upon how substandard second-hand wheels are entering the commercial vehicle wheel supply chain, the inherent problems this may cause, and what can be done to monitor and assess the scale of the issue.
