No time for complacency, warns TyreSafe

12.00 | 1 October 2013 | | 5 comments

With DfT data indicating that 194 people died in 2012 as a result of dangerous, illegal, or under-inflated tyres, TyreSafe is reminding motorists about the importance of correctly maintained tyres.

While the figure is a slight fall on the previous year, TyreSafe has warned against complacency.

Stuart Jackson, chairman of TyreSafe, said: “We are pleased that the number of fatalities or serious casualties coming from a tyre related accident has fallen, but this is no time for complacency.

“We are seeing an increased number of drivers who are willing to run their tyres right down to the legal limit in an attempt to save money, and this will reduce their safety on the road.

“While we’ve been successful in helping to remove the most dangerous tyres from the road, average tread depths on cars have reduced recently which has contributed to an actual increase in number of drivers suffering slight injuries."

The warning comes at the start of Tyre Safety Month 2013 (October) during which drivers are being encouraged to check the tyre pressure on their vehicles at least once a month.

Click here to read the full TyreSafe report.

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    Do the Police check the tyre pressures of every vehicle involved in a collision? Probably not. If they did and one or more was down, it still couldn’t be determined if it was relevant or not, so how does it end up on STATS 19 (assuminmg that is the Dft’s source)? If the tread depth was below the legal requirement, but the road was bone dry, should it really be entered as a contributory factor?


    Hugh Jones, Cheshire
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    Surely with regard to both Hugh & Eric’s comments is it not a case of second hand reporting and interpretation of the data rather than what the data indicates or the DfT have said? Should Tyre Safe actually be saying “helped contribute to the reduction”?
    In the same way the report should be saying “defective tyres were a contributory factor”.


    Keith
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    Eric
    I think we need to be a little careful here. In my view, the fact that an organisation is funded by members of a particular industry or profession is not sufficient grounds to cast aspirations as to its credibility or intentions, which I think is what you are doing here in the case of TyreSafe.


    Nick Rawlings, editor, Road Safety News
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    For once I agree with Hugh!
    But it does not stop at speculation about tread depth. According to their website, “Since its inception [in 2006], TyreSafe’s activities have helped reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured each year in a tyre related accident by 30 percent”.
    Ah, they are funded by tyre manufacturers, fitters etc.


    Eric Bridgstock, Independent Road Safety Research, St Albans
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    “… average tread depths on cars have reduced recently which has contributed to an actual increase in number of drivers suffering slight injuries.” Isn’t this just wild speculation? How can anyone possibly know what the average tread depth is on vehicles in the UK at any one time and whether, in any particular accident, it was more relevant than some more obvious factors? I can understand a tyre blow-out at speed causing sudden loss of control as it’s unexpected and could obviously lead to an accident, but minimal tread-depth and under-inflation I would have thought are, at best, contributory factors rather than primary causes in isolation. It is misleading for the DfT to claim, so categorically, that x number of people died “..as a result of..” implying there could not have been any other explanation.


    Hugh Jones, Cheshire
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