At the outset of Tyre Safety Month 2016, TyreSafe has welcomed a reduction in the number of casualties resulting from tyre-related incidents on Britain’s roads during 2015.
According to TyreSafe, the Government’s annual road casualty report, published on 29 Sept, shows the number of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) in tyre-related incidents fell by 28% in 2015, compared with a reduction of 16.2% in all casualties during the same period.
TyreSafe says that since it was founded in 2006, the number of casualties caused by tyre-related accidents has fallen by 44%.
The 2015 casualty figures were released just days before the beginning of Tyre Safety Month, which will run throughout October. The event slogan, ‘Don’t chance it, Check it’, is designed to encourage motorists to check their tyres on a regular basis.
Research published by TyreSafe in August suggests that more than 10m motorists in the UK could be driving a vehicle with an illegal tyre. Working in partnership with Highways England, TyreSafe examined 340,000 replaced tyres – with 27.3% found to be illegal at the point of replacement.
While describing the latest tyre-related casualty figures as ‘positive’, TyreSafe is urging drivers not to be complacent and ensure they carry out regular tyre checks.
The not-for-profit tyre safety awareness organisation says that while the casualty rates may be falling, there is no information about whether the number of tyre-related incidents (which do not result in fatalities or injury) is decreasing or increasing, as this data is not available in the DfT report.
Stuart Jackson, chairman, TyreSafe, said: “Tyre Safety Month 2016 kicks off with good news but motorists should not interpret those results as being an excuse not to carry out regular tyre checks.
“Tyres are a safety critical component on any vehicle and the only one in contact with the road, and while modern vehicles give occupants a far greater chance of surviving a collision – even walking away uninjured – well-maintained tyres will significantly reduce the risk of being involved in an incident in the first place.
“That’s why Tyre Safety Month’s message this year is Don’t chance it – check it.”
Resources for Tyre Safety Month 2016, which are available for road safety professionals to use free of charge, include posters, leaflets, online banners and an animation.
The campaign also include a film (featured) which shows the difference in braking distances in wet conditions between a car equipped with new tyres and another with tread depth below the legal limit of 1.6mm.
What’s a ‘tyre-related incident’ and how would one be determined, as opposed to say, an ‘idiot behind the wheel’ related incident’? I hope the mere presence of a defective tyre on vehicle(s) involved at a crash scene does not lead the investigators to automatically presume it was relevant and overlook more obvious causes.
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
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