Author: Abaranji Sivakumar

Motorists across the country could be placing their life at risk by failing to maintain the tyres of their vehicles.

A poll of UK car owners carried out by AA Tyres has shown that as many as one-third of men and two-thirds of women rely solely on garages to tell them when their tyres are in need of renewal.

As a result, millions of drivers are taking for granted the safety of tyres that may very well be a disaster waiting to happen.

Director of AA Tyres David Bruce stated: “Tyres aren’t ‘optional extras’ – the four small patches of rubber, each the size of your hand, are the only parts of the car that touch the road. If they’re worn, poorly inflated, or damaged, then you really are dicing with death.”

Motorists are therefore encouraged to carry out regular inspections regarding the state of their tyres, with the need to look for issues like excessive or uneven wear, low tread depth and rips or tears high on the list of danger signs.

In addition, tyre pressures should also be regularly examined to ensure they are in line with the manufacturer’s recommended psi.

The legal minimum tread depth for a tyre in the UK is 1.6 mm of tread covering the central circumference of the tyre, although a depth of less than 2 mm should be seen as a risk to safety.

Issues that can arise due to lack of tyre maintenance include unresponsive handling, increased braking distances and even a chance of tyre failure. However, all of these problems can be avoided if motorists simply inspect their tyres regularly and have them replaced when needed.

Prioritising the spread of the message regarding the importance of regular vehicle maintenance should be a top priority for the government following the announcement that first MOTs are soon to take place after four years, rather than the current three.

TyreSafe chairman Stuart Jackson said that the chancellor’s decision in his summer Budget to increase the length of time prior to a vehicle’s first MOT means that drivers must take more seriously the need to regularly inspect and maintain their vehicle, as failure to do so could lead to an increase in mechanical failures and accidents on the roads.

“At present, the evidence strongly indicates any extension of the interval between MOT tests or the deadline for the first will result in more defective and dangerous tyres and vehicles on our roads,” he argued.

“TyreSafe’s tread depth survey has already indicated nearly ten million illegal tyres will be on Britain’s roads in 2015 – we need that number to drop not rise if we are to reduce the number of tyre-related incidents.”

Mr Jackson added that cars and motorbikes are more reliable than ever before, but many safety-critical components will continue to suffer excessive wear and tear before the four-year MOT deadline is up.

This means that drivers need to keep a close eye on areas like brakes and tyres – both items that will typically need to be replaced sooner than every four years – as failure to address problems in these areas could have serious and dangerous implications.

Motorists are also reminded that it is not just their own safety that is put at risk by a failure to manage vehicle maintenance, but also that of other innocent road users and vulnerable members of the public.

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New research published by commercial vehicle website VansA2Z has highlighted the considerable number of fleet operators that could be running the risk of considerable fines and even jail as a result of poor vehicle maintenance programs.

According to the organisation’s findings, 82 per cent of respondents to a poll at the recent DRIVEit@Bruntingthorpe event were unaware of the fact that owner-operators face prosecution under corporate manslaughter legislation. Van operators can be found liable to causing death or serious injury to themselves or a third party as a result of vehicle defects.

This means that should an accident take place on the nation’s roads and the cause can be traced back to poor upkeep of the vehicle. Businesses will be held liable for their lackluster standards.

Furthermore, the company revealed this is a real issue that all businesses need to be aware of, especially given the fact that figures from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Association show that 50 per cent of all UK vans fail their first MOT tests for road worthiness.

The majority of failures come as a result of defects in steering, lighting and braking – all areas where issues with vehicle maintenance can have a significant impact on driver risk.

VansA2Z.com managing director Kevin Gregory said: “Illegal, badly maintained vans are a peril to other road users, and many owners are not only unaware of the faults on some of their fleet vehicles, but also of their personal liability if something does go horribly wrong.”

He added that understanding the liabilities and risks of fleet management should be a top priority for all operators, as failure to do so can not only have serious implications for themselves, but it also needlessly places countless lives in danger every year.