Today is this year’s tyre safety day (Wednesday 3 October) and commenting on the importance of the day, Tom Dennigan of German tyre manufacturer, Continental Tyres said: “For a long time, tyre safety was an area that was neglected by both the authorities and motorists themselves here in Ireland. However, our legislators have to be commended for bringing tyre safety to the fore in the past few years.
“Firstly, in 2016, then Transport Minister, Paschal Donohoe, introduced a raft of tyre-related penalty points aimed at eliminating dangerous or defective tyres from our roads. Now, Irish motorists can get penalty points for driving with a tyre that is dangerously worn or damaged. Indeed, a motorist can now receive penalty points for a tyre that has dangerously incorrect air pressure - either over or under-inflated.”
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| Tom Dennigan of Continental Tyres |
This year, the RSA and the operators of the National Car Test (NCT) introduced a dangerous fault classification targeting any vehicle that is presented with dangerously worn or defective tyres. Dangerous tyres are deemed to be a defect that constitutes a direct or immediate risk to road safety to such a degree that the vehicle should not be used on the road under any circumstances.
These two measures will help to bring home the message to motorists that dangerous tyres should not be on our roads and the only way to avoid that is for all motorists to take responsibility for regularly checking the tyres on their vehicle.
A study by the RSA shows that in a five-year period in Ireland, 71 people were killed and 19 seriously injured in a collision where a vehicle had defective tyres as a contributory factor.
Mr Dennigan says: “My hope for Tyre Safety Day 2018 is that motorists will make a commitment to regularly check their tyres and for those of us with young drivers in the family, take the time to also show them how to check their tyres. A tyre check takes only a few minutes - make sure the tyre is inflated to the correct level, then examine the tyre for any cuts or abrasions, and finally check the tread depth (the depth of the grooves), and if the tyre is any way close to being bald or damaged, get along to a reputable tyre dealer to have them checked."
