Survey reveals substandard tyres

More than half of the tyres presented for replacement at tyres dealers around the country are below the legal limit, according to a new survey.

The survey, conducted by the Irish Tyre Industry Association (ITIA) revealed that 50.8 per cent of the 8,500 tyres submitted for replacement were below the legal limit of 1.6mm. This represented almost a 9 per cent increase on the previous survey, which was conducted in 2001.

Commenting on the results ITIA chief executive Jack Farrell said: “The results are disappointing from a number of view points. Firstly, despite the establishment and publicity surrounding the NCT, tyre maintenance is clearly not improving. Secondly, while the legal limit is 1.6mm, we recommend that motorists change their tyres at 2mm. Even at 1.6mm the tyre has lost nearly 80 per cent of its efficiency on a wet surface.”

Mr Farrell said the road safety message is clearly not getting through to motorists. “It is hard to believe that in the current climate of road safety awareness, people still do not see the importance of looking after their sole point of contact with the road. It doesn’t matter how advanced the braking system on your vehicle may be, if the tyres don’t grip the road when you need them to.”

He said there is now a compelling case to include tyre offences in the penalty points system. “On the spot fines are not enough to deter people from travelling on illegal tyres. The inclusion of tyres under the penalty points scheme will see people receiving up to 4 points on their licence if convicted of this offence. This should have a greater impact on driver behaviour.”