The Automotive Blog

Faulty brakes are a common cause of accidents not just in the UK.  Regular brake testing can help prevent such incidents as;

Sierra Leone
HGV accident in Freetown
At least 4 people died and many others were injured following a lorry collision early on Thursday in east Freetown. Mechanical failure saw an advancing lorry fail to brake, and then collide with a stationary lorry, laden with coal and timber, awaiting fuel. Neither lorry was displaying lights and most of the dead and injured were travelling on the back of one of the lorries. 10th October 2008

Luxembourg
HGV customs checks find shortcomings

In the last week HGV technical inspections at the Mertert customs check point in eastern Luxembourg have revealed 21 vehicles with 34 mechanical failings, primarily brakes, steering and suspension. The deficiencies of 3 German lorries saw them immediately banned and towed back to Germany. One lorry with 54 tonnes was 37% over its legal capacity, another notable finding was the number of drivers failing to adhere to mandatory rest periods. 29th October 2008.

USA

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported

That in 2004, 416,000 large trucks were involved in traffic crashes in the U.S., that a total of 5,190 people died (12% of all the traffic fatalities reported in 2004) and an additional 116,000 were injured in those crashes. One out of eight traffic fatalities in 2004 resulted from a collision involving a large truck. In a widely cited study it was reported that brake defects were common and were found in 56% of the tractor-trailers involved in crashes. In the more recent Large Truck Crash Causation Study sponsored by DOT, it was concluded that 29.4% of all large truck crashes involved brake failure, brakes out of adjustment, or other brake related issues.

An out-of-control lorry which smashed into an office and killed two women could have caused a “massacre”, a coroner said. Two women died when the 35-tonne truck crashed through the front of an estate agent’s office in High Wycombe on 14 June 2002. Buckinghamshire coroner Richard Hulett said it had been a lottery which of the many people out in the town centre would be hit when the lorry’s brakes failed at the top of a hill. The driver and his employers DE Transport have been summoned before Wycombe magistrates for failing to maintain the brakes and exceeding the weight limit on a vehicle.

The driver’s statement included that he told police the vehicle had had brake problems four to six weeks previously, but these had been fixed by a garage.

Sales Director Matthew Burke states “With BrakeCheck ( a modern day decelerometer) you have a hard copy print out that is time and date stamped to prove brakes are checked and are to the required braking efficiency, reviewing the above article its always easy to speak with hindsight but this is a warning for today’s vehicle operators to do their up most to check and report on BRAKES”.