Government
to consult on a ban on 10 year old tyres
News report of a tragic accident on a motorway involving a
tyre burst of a tyre reported to have been over 18 years old. See
our NEWS item released yesterday. 190301
More
Chris Hunt Cooke notes "the Government have commissioned research
on ageing tyres and road safety which has not yet been reported, but
perhaps having advance notice of the news, they have jumped the gun
and announced a consultation a couple of days ago". He provided
the link to the GOV.UK news item alongside.
Posted:
190302 |
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Following
our NEWS item yesterday on a tragic accident on the M5 involving
a burst tyre which is reported to have been over 18 years old,
we have heard the Government is to consult on options to ban
10 year old tyres to boost road safety. The
Avon Coroner's Court heard there was no legislation requiring
a tyre to be replaced at a certain age and its poor condition
would not have been obvious.
The announcement
on the GOV.UK website says "the Government will consult
on options to ban older tyres from use on buses, coaches, heavy
goods vehicles and mini-buses to help keep road users safe.
The
Department for Transport has today (Tuesday 26th February 2019)
announced that it will consult on legislation to make it illegal
for these vehicles to run with a tyre aged 10 years or over.
This follows a research project, launched by the Government
last year, to look at whether the age of a tyre has a direct
impact on its safety". |
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At this stage the
options seem to cover heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and public
service vehicles (PSVs). In November 2018, the DVSA
guidance on maintaining roadworthiness was updated to
say that tyres of 10 years of age or older should not be used
on the front axles of heavy goods vehicles as well as buses
and coaches. Hopefully this recognition of tyre age safety
concerns and prudent guidance will extend to other categories
of vehicles in the UK.
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