Tread carefully: No excuse for being on the road with illegal tyres

Local police officers are out and about near Exeter this week to check that vehicles have safe and legal tyres fitted.

The maximum penalty for driving with defective tyres is three penalty points and a £2,500 fine…and that’s per tyre.

More importantly, defective tyres pose a danger to the driver and to other road users.

PC William Welch said: “The condition of tyres and vehicle handling go hand in hand. Tyres are the only points of contact between a vehicle and the road, and so affect braking, steering and grip.

“Tyre treads are also vital in clearing water from these contact points. We can’t emphasise enough how important it is to maintain the correct condition of your tyres to keep yourself and other road users safe.”

At 30mph the stopping distance on a wet road of a car with new tyres is 26 metres. It is 43 metres for the same car, in the same conditions with tyres at the minimum legal limit tread depth of 1.6mm.*

For motorcycle tyres, which will also be checked by police, the legal limit is 1mm of tread depth.

A cheap and easy test for tread depth on your car is the 20p test (see photo), as the coin is easy to come by and its design indicates when a tyre has well above the legal limit of tread depth.

PC Welch added: “Bear in mind though that it is not just insufficient tread depth through tyre wear that makes a tyre illegal. Correct inflation is important, and if there is cord exposed or bulges in the sidewall that could lead to rapid deflation.”

“With 20p in your pocket, there’s no excuse not to check your treads, and while you are there make sure your tyres are otherwise fit for purpose.”

Local police will work alongside personnel from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA, formerly known as VOSA) during the short operation. More guidance on tyre safety from the AA can be found at this link: https://www.theaa.com/driving-advice/legal/tyres

*Figures from RoSPA

#NoExcuse