Tyre body concern as over half fail NCT

Increased rainfall heightens danger for motorists on worn tyres.

As latest figures show more than half of motorists are failing their NCT tests, the Irish Tyre Industry Association (ITIA) has warned of motorists dicing with danger in our increasingly wet conditions by not having their tyres replaced in time.

Over one in nine NCT failures this year have been due to poor tyre condition, over a period when much of the country has been experiencing record levels of rainfall.

So far this year, over 192,000 cars have failed the NCT first time, a failure rate of 50.4 percent, and the third year in a row that the failure rate has exceeded 50 percent. Tyre condition is currently the second most common disqualifying fault, accounting for over 11 percent of failures. Tyre tread depth, meanwhile, is a disqualifying fault in over 8 percent of tests.

"It is shocking to think that more than half of all motorists coming in for an NCT are driving unroadworthy cars," says Kevin Farrell, President of the ITIA. "That clearly spells danger for themselves and their fellow road users. Equally worrying is that tyres account for such a high proportion of NCT failures, especially given the very high prevalence of rain so far this year."

The ITIA warns that wet roads and worn tyres are a deadly combination. "It is in the wet conditions that the importance of tyre tread really comes to the fore," says Farrell. "It can take a tyre just below the 1.6mm limit twice as long to stop on wet roads as a car on new tyres. You can't put a price on that shorter stopping distance."

Rainfall levels in the first three months of 2014 were twice the average in many parts, with rain occurring on at least two out of every three days. Increased rainfall is predicted to be a trend into the future.

An industry survey last year showed one in six cars on the road to have one or more tyres below the legal limit.

"It is clear that people are seeking to save money by deferring the replacement of tyres that are damaged or worn below the 1.6mm legal tread limit. While not underestimating the hardship out there, to treat this fundamental safety issue as an economic one would be a big mistake," concluded Farrell.