Police stop battered van with trailer “fixed” by a just few weldings

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German police banned a trailer van from the road on Tuesday due to it being “fixed” by just a few weldings. Officers said a short circuit in the battery could also have happened at any minute, as it wasn’t secured properly either.

On Tuesday May 11th at 11:00 am, a vehicle transporter from an Eastern European company was checked on the BAB 3 resting place in Heiligenroth. The vehicle had caught the eye of the heavy traffic controllers of the Koblenz traffic department due to its evidently poor technical condition.

When the vehicle was checked for the first time, the inspectors were initially surprised to find two different chassis numbers on the transporter. This was, however, explained by the driver, who said that after an accident, a plateau structure of another vehicle was quickly built onto the existing vehicle chassis.

However, the inspectors found it frightening to discover that the superstructure that was added later was almost unsecured. Instead of using the required fastening options properly, the structure was only connected to the chassis with a few welding points. Due to the impermissible fastening, there was a permanent risk that the entire structure could become detached from the chassis.

It wasn’t just the trailer mount that was objectionable during the inspection either. The vehicle had a lot of other serious technical faults, such as large rusted patches in several places, worn tires and lighting failures.

What’s more, the exhaust system wasn’t secured properly. The same was true of the battery, and as a consequence, a short circuit could have happened at any time – potentially causing a fire.

Due to the countless problems, the vehicle was deemed unroadworthy. In order to prevent further use of the vehicle, its registration certificate and vehicle registration number were removed. A trailer was also ordered to take the vehicle away.

Meanwhile, the driver, who was also the vehicle’s owner, bas been reported to the court.


Photo credit @ Transport Directorate Koblenz

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