Check wheel/ rim fasteners

• The wheel nut does not fully engage the thread of the wheel stud or the fitting of the wheel nut does not match the taper of the wheel stud hole;

• Any hub has missing, cracked, stripped or broken wheel mounting nuts, studs or bolts;

• Fasteners are not of the correct type for the wheel being used or allow a rim to slip on its spider.

Safety Belts Save Lives and Dollars

• In 2003, safety belts saved society an estimated $63 billion in medical care, lost productivity, and other injury-related costs. In this same year, the needless deaths and injuries from safety belt nonuse caused an estimated $18 billion in economic costs to society.

• It is estimated safety belts saved more than 14,900 lives in the United States in 2003. Yet, during this same year, 56 percent of passenger vehicle occupants killed in traffic crashes were unrestrained. If all passenger vehicle occupants (over 4 years old) wore safety belts, more than 6,000 additional lives could have been saved.

• Research has shown that lap/shoulder belts, when used properly, reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger car occupants by 45 percent and the risk of moderate to critical injury by 50 percent. For light-truck occupants, safety belts reduce the risk of fatal injury by 60 percent and moderate-to-critical injury by 65 percent.

Check headlights

• Headlight reflector is tarnished or peeling to the extent that headlight performance is impaired;

• Headlight lens is cracked or broken;

• Headlight assembly is not secured or is out of position;

• Headlight does not show while light.

Visually inspect externally mounted containers

• On vehicles less than 4.5 tonnes tare mass or where the chassis has 600mm ground clearance or less:

• the tank, or any tank component, has less than 200mm ground clearance;

• the tank, or any tank component, is not a minimum 200mm inboard of the original equipment bumper bars (measured on the centreline of the vehicle);

Check steering components inside cabin

• Steering wheel is not located in the centre or to the right hand side of the vehicle unless specifically authorised in writing by the State or Territory licensing authority and the vehicle is less than 15 years old;

• steering wheel is loose on the shaft;

• The steering column is insecure;

• The steering wheel structure is fractured or the hub, rim or spokes are loose.

Check air compressor/vacuum pump

• The air compressor or vacuum pump has loose mounting bolts, or cracked or broken mounting brackets, braces or adaptors, or is inoperative;

• Drive pulleys are cracked, broken or loose;

• Drive belts are loose, cracked through to reinforcing plies, extensively frayed or missing drive sections.

Driver Alertness Indication System (DAISY) – TRB IDEA Program

This project conducted an initial development and assessment of Sphericon’s (Israel) innovative concept for detecting driver inattentiveness based on steering system dynamics, the separation of driver action from the effects of the external world on the vehicle’s lateral motion and using that relationship to evaluate driver alertness. Driver action is weighed against the effect of disturbances (bumps and road imperfections, wind gusts, etc.) on lateral motion of the vehicle, a good measure as to the alertness or attentiveness of the driver.