Tyres should feature in new penalty points offences

The Irish Tyre Industry Association (ITIA) believes that the Minister for Transport has missed a key opportunity to improve road safety by not including tyre safety as an element in the new penalty points offences that come into effect on Monday April 3, 2006.

According to Jack Farrell, Chief Executive of the ITIA: In the recent inquest into the tragic death caused by a Garda car, the state of the tyres on the car was highlighted as a contributory factor. We believe that there are many more instances where damaged or worn tyres are a significant contributory factor in road accidents across the country. In light of this, we feel that the issues of tyre safety needs to be addressed by including it in the list of penalty point offences without further delay.

In its own tests carried out at tyre dealerships around the country last year, the ITIA found that fully 47 percent of more than 9,000 tyres exchanged for new tyres were below the 1.6mm legal tread depth limit.

The finding that almost one in two tyres were below the legal limit is shocking. Anyone interested in improving road safety has to ask when we will see action to remedy this totally unsatisfactory situation, said Farrell.

The ITIA estimated that there are more than 200,000 illegal tyres on Irish roads and contends that the only way to ensure that this number is reduced is to introduce penalty points for drivers in vehicles on such tyres.

There has been a missed opportunity on this occasion but we would hope that the new Road Safety Authority will fulfil its remit by looking at all the elements of road safety and use its statutory powers to make tyre safety enforceable by law, concluded Farrell.