Motorists can avail of free tyre check

Tyres below 1.6mm and showing wire

Irish Tyre Industry Association (ITIA) members around Ireland are inviting all motorists to call in for a free tyre pressure check and thread depth inspection during RSA Road Safety Week taking place this week until Sunday 7 October, writes Trish Whelan. A visit to www.itia.ie will lead motorists to their nearest ITIA registered dealer.

Many drivers do not consider that the only point of contact their vehicle has with the road is the tyres on their vehicle. The condition of those tyres is fundamental to road safety. Damaged and worn tyres can put your life at risk; sudden braking distances are doubled in length; aquaplaning can occur in wet conditions; and even a blow-out can result which could lead to loss of control of the vehicle.

Driving on dangerous or under-inflated tyres puts your life and the lives of other road users at risk. It can also lead to penalty points and a fine of up to €2,500.

Poor tyre conditions are now the leading cause of vehicles failing their NCT Test. Tyre related failures fall into three categories: Tyre thread depth below the legal 1.6mm limit; cuts or bulges to a tyre; and mismatched tyres on the same axle.

ITIA President, Paddy Murphy (pictured), who represents all sectors in the tyre industry in Ireland, said: “Few people realise the impact that faulty tyres have on your safety and we all need to be aware that lives can be saved by regular tyre management. During our Tyre Thursday campaign this summer, all tyres on that date, coming into our members’ outlets were inspected. We found that 25pc of all tyres inspected were at or below the legal limit of 1.6mm which shows that not enough motorists are taking care of their tyres.”

The benefits of proper tyre maintenance include improved safety; improved car handling and braking; longer tyre life and a reduction in C02 emissions. 

Paddy Murphy is asking all motorists to avail of the ITIA members’ offer this week and check that their tyres are in order before winter comes in.

Moyagh Murdock, Chief Executive, Road Safety Authority (pictured) says their own analysis of Garda fatal investigation files between 2008 and 2012 shows that an average of 14 people died annually in crashes where defective tyres were a significant pre-crash factor. 

She says it is vitally important to ensure your tyres are fit for purpose. “To highlight just how serious an issue tyre safety is, the recent introduction of new EU wide regulations now means that defective tyres are deemed a fail at the annual NCT and CVRT roadworthiness tests.”

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Get those tyres checked!

Tyres are the part of a car that puts motorists at most risk of a fatal collision, if they are not roadworthy, writes Brian Byrne.

That's the emphatic view of the Road Safety Authority which is urging motorists to have their tyres checked for free this week, as part of Irish Road Safety Week.

The checks will be carried free at tyre centres and garages affiliated to the Irish Tyre Industry Association, which is holding Tyre Safety Day tomorrow as its contribution to the week. The checks are available all this week.

Defective tyres were the most significant factor (64.1pc) of all vehicle factors identified in fatal collisions between 2008 and 2012, according to a report issued by the RSA earlier this year.

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.

Minister's tyre quango will cost hundreds of jobs

A plan by Environmental Minister John Gormley to increase tax on tyres has been described by the Irish Tyre Industry Association (ITIA) as 'a stealth-tax disguised as a green tax', writes Trish Whelan.

They also contend the tax would see hundreds of jobs lost to Northern Ireland.

The warning is contained in a submission to the Minister, who is believed to be considering the tax increase as a way of financing the disposal of old tyres. This follows RTE's Prime Time report dealing with the illegal stockpiling and illegal disposal of tyres by rogue waste tyre collectors.