65 cent device could save lives if big rig drivers used them

[Cybergal]

65 cent device could save lives if big rig drivers used them

COBURG, Ore. - It's a little piece of plastic, but it could pay huge dividends for highway safety.

State inspectors in Washington say it might have prevented a crash between a van and a flying wheel from big rig that happened in the blink of an eye.
The double wheels of a big-rig trailer broke free and tumbled across busy Interstate 5.
"He saw it coming," says Bristol Kvernenes, the wife of the victim.
John Ellis, a young husband and new father, was riding in a van and was killed.
"That's the last thing he saw in this world," Kvernenes said.
65 cent device could save lives if big rig drivers used them | KVAL CBS 13 - News, Weather and Sports - Eugene, OR - Eugene, Oregon | Local & Regional News

[Tn. Truckers Wife]

I think I just read the dumbest statement I have ever heard..."The ATA say's it has not plans of using it because there are no lab tests to show it works.....Man it's just kinda common sense that if you place them on a lug nut and all the arrows are in the same direction and you look at them later and the arrows don't line up anymore, WELLLLLLLL DUUUUUHHHHHHH, I don't think you need a lab test for that...lol...

[lunachic]

wellllll duuuuuhhhhh......lol
who could say it better............

[Tn. Truckers Wife]

wellllll duuuuuhhhhh......lol
who could say it better............

Thankyou...lol...I swear, I had to go back and read it again, just to make sure I read it correctly....lol...

[gearjammer]

ATA and common sense now THATS a classic oxymoron

[Tn. Truckers Wife]

ATA and common sense now THATS a classic oxymoron

lol...Well you get my point...lol..Some people should think through how stupid a statement is..Now I'm not a rocket scientist, but I believe I can figure how it would work, without lab tests..

[Larry]

What really made me mad about the article is the comments at the bottom and how they exaggerate the facts of "safety" violations. They make trucks look like deadly weapons when a safety violation can be as simple as burnt out light.

[friend]

What should make you really mad is that a good man had to die because of a safety violation. This incident was not as simple as a burnt out light and the truck WAS a deadly weapon. John Ellis died because of incompetence and neglect.

[Sinister]

#1) if both wheels were together, it may be that something else went wrong. I had both tires come off a hub once, and lugnuts had nothing to do with it at all. The tires stayed bolted together all the way into the guardrail, then back across the lanes to the right shoulder. Nice trailer this was.

#2) The chances of ALL TEN lugnuts being loose enough to let a tire go after ALL TEN lugnuts have been tightened has to be astronomical.

#3) The article does not state that loose lugnuts was the cause of the death. Just that two tires was. It does not say how they came off or why.

So how exactly is this small piece of plastic that automatically tells the DOT as you are crossing the scale that you have ONE lugnut loose, and deserve a ticket, fine and an OOS violation really going to do anything but enable to government to collect yet more money in fines? I don't think these things are a safetly device at all. I think they're a tattletale.

And if this mans death somehow did happen to be a result of a burnt out light, well MY GOD how the hell can we allow these damn trucks to run around with burnt out lights??

We don't. You can't use ONE article to state that we all need to act a certain way, or perform a certain task.

[2xR]

#1) if both wheels were together, it may be that something else went wrong. I had both tires come off a hub once, and lugnuts had nothing to do with it at all.

The only way for this to happen is for a spindle nut to back itself off. That can happen if a bearing fails, or, if the last mechanic that put it back together didn't get it tight enough and the lock ring was improperly installed.

The only way a driver, or, DOT inspector might catch this BEFORE IT HAPPENS, is if an oil leak at the inner seal is discovered during inspection. The seal will begin leaking shortly before the failure. Maybe it'll be leaking during pre-trip, maybe it won't.