TyreSafe host webinar to improve standards of part worn tyres

 In the current economic climate, many vehicle owners are looking for ways to save a bit of cash and recent reports say drivers are cutting back on essential motoring maintenance as one way of achieving this. According to a new TyreSafe campaign, Tyre safety remains a significant problem in the UK. The latest figures available from the DfT show that in 2011 there were more than 1,100 tyre related casualties on the UK’s roads. To ensure we are all familiar with the risks of purchasing part worn tyres, TyreSafe will be hosting its first ever webinar on Monday 25^th February.

The session is free to join and will provide attendees with a summary of the legislations affecting the sale of part worn tyres. It will also deliver some practical advice on how the tyres should be inspected, common problems to look for and what steps must be taken to ensure used tyres are sold legally. It is estimated that more than four million part worn tyres are now sold annually in the UK. Each part worn tyre being sold is required to be inspected against a number of criteria covering its structural integrity, tread depth, standard of repairs as well as being permanently marked as a part worn tyre.

However, despite these clear regulations, in a recent mystery shopper investigation by TyreSafe, 98% of the part worn tyres it purchased failed to meet all of the regulations. More worryingly though, the independent tyre examiner commissioned to inspect the tyres found that over a third of them contained potentially dangerous forms of non-compliance. One tyre was described by the inspection engineer as having the "potential to kill" as it still contained a metal object penetrating 5cm through the tread in a manner which was likely to result in sudden and total tyre failure had it been fitted to a vehicle. Other serious safety breaches included dangerous and unsafe repairs, exposed cords, bead damage and evidence of run flat damage.

Take care if you decide to go down the part worn tyre path, as it can be difficult to fully know the history of a part worn tyre and this can lead to unsafe conditions. Remember to never buy a part worn tyre that has had a puncture repaired in the sidewall or has had a major repair done to any part of the tread. Also keep in mind that there are many regulations governing the sale of part worn tyres, such as; tyres must be permanently marked as part worn, they must have at least 2mm of tread depth around the whole tyre and the grooves must be (entirety) clearly visible.

Trading standards officers, road safety professionals, tyre retailers and other interested parties can register for the free webinar by visiting www.tyresafe.org/webinar or contacting TyreSafe on 01787 226995.