The early childhood children (including 3yr old daughter) recieves transportation from the school to and from school. Today as the van was leaving our town it‘s axle broke. The driver said she heard noises the previous week and told the supervisor maintenance about it. He took the van for a drive and heard nothing and deemed it safe. Again, the axle broke today on a town road. My question is what if it would have happened on the highway? Would it have been really bad? I talked to the school and they said the van was deemed in good condition and safe.
Rear wheel drive? The van would have simply coasted to a stop. I have broken axles in two different rear wheel drive vehicles and they simply roll to a stop - one was pretty noisy, the other didn't even make any unusual noises - they simply lost power to the rear wheels. You are right to be concerned with the safety of the vehicle that carries your child to school, but a broken axle very often isn't something that can be predicted - even with the best of maintenance and inspections - and it's a very rare problem unless you let my grandson do burn outs with it.
It could/ would have wrecked on the highway, at speed, and possibly killed, or maimed somebody who was inside of it. Could have rolled over, could have slid in front of a large truck, could have gone over a cliff, could have hit a tree, or light pole! I don't know who you talked to at the school, but i would report it to the State Police, and also to the town Police, and maybe to their Insurance company, if you can find out the name of it! Even a letter to the town news-paper can have great results!
The more detailed info you provide, the more detailed an answer you are likely to receive. Is it the axle that is breaking or is it the axle's support structures (BRACKETS, U-BOLTS, etc.) that is breaking? Once an axle breaks, it is rendered useless and thus, a NEW axle is needed to replace it. It is the driver's responsibility to log a Daily Pre-trip inspection and IF NECESSARY, REQUIRE the maintenance supervisor to INSPECT, INSPECT, INSPECT, INSPECT that vehicle BEFORE she decide to move that vehicle one inch. If that vehicle is in need of repair and the driver listed her concerns on the Daily Pre-trip inspection log and presented it to the shop foreman and after due time, no one can return that Daily Pre-trip inspection log to her, WITH a MECHANIC'S or SHOP FOREMAN'S SIGNATURE on it stating that the vehicle was inspected and/or repaired in accordance to DOT regulations, she may rightfully refuse to operate it. However, the more details you provide in your question, the more accurate an answer you can expect to receive. YOU ASKED: My question is what if it would have happened on the highway? Would it have been really bad? (See my video reply to these two questions, the following link, below)
