New law re old tyres
A new law banning old bus and lorry tyres from roads is to come into force from 1 February.
Roads Minister Baroness Vere confirmed the change to Maria Eagle MP whose constituent fought to change the law after her son was killed in a crash.
Frances Molloy's son Michael, 18, died in 2012 after a 19-year-old tyre blew out on a coach he was in.
Mrs Molloy tweeted that she had campaigned to make sure such deaths will "never happen again."
The latest announcement came in a letter dated 29 October to Ms Eagle, the Labour MP for Garston and Halewood.
The baroness said tyres aged more than 10 years would be banned from the front steering axles of goods vehicles more than 3.5 tonnes, buses and coaches and also to minibuses unless the axle had twin tyres.
Not sure if this will apply to MH's over 3.5t.
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Well it should, but who will police it? Perhaps it should be a requirement of the MOT test that such vehicles would fail if their tyres are 10yr or more old.
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Thanks for the update, Keith. Definitely a step in the right direction.
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well i was shocked at the cracking on my caravan tyres, 6 years old, when i had it svcd recently, and it was not on the wall, it was inbetween the treads which made it difficult to see unless the wheels were off. They were not cheapo tyres, fitted with Tyron bands, and i always use wheel covers and move the caravan probably once per month if not in use. The ironic thing is, that the tread was in great condition. Will fit new tyres once we are able to roam freely again.
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I was hoping someone would enlighten me about vehicles with steering axles fitted with twin tyres. Does such a thing exist?
The baroness said tyres aged more than 10 years would be banned from the front steering axles of goods vehicles more than 3.5 tonnes, buses and coaches and also to minibuses unless the axle had twin tyres.
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.... so the same chance of being pulled over with a bald tyre. My point was that at the moment your car would pass an MOT with cracked crazed tyres as long as the depth of tread was over 1.6 mm ... been there with EmilysMum's car (as above)
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All tyres are examined for condition as well as tread depth as part of any mot. For example, I had to replace one of mine yesterday at mot because the tread blocks differed in heights, by about 1mm, at the inner edge of the tyre. This could indicated a problem with the carcass so it was an mot fail.
This all depends of course on how strict the examiner actually is. Mine is done by a relative but he's a real stickler when it comes to mots and rightly so.
Problem with caravan tyres of course is that they do not need to be mot'd, though tyre condition and age should be checked at service and insurance companies get iffy about accident claims if the vans tyres are more than around 7 years old
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@KeithL ... and insurance companies get iffy about accident claims if the vans tyres are more than around 7 years old
After a series of emails, I phoned the Caravan Club insurance about this after a heads up by the place that serviced the caravan. The tyres on my caravan are over 5(?) yrs old (but otherwise perfectly OK) and I was trying to get an answer to my question of whether they automatically reject claims on that basis. Blood & stone springs to mind! But eventually she said that it wouldn't, though getting that in writing was a step too far.
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very grey area, my service mechanic noted the cracking on his service report and as he rightly said, if i was to be involved in an accident and the insurance company a. checked the tyres, b. asked for the service report then it could be difficult to press for any monies via insurance company.
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ED, without proof it’s(the words) ain’t worth squat mate🤷🏻♂️☹️. If it came to pass you have an accident it’ll be-‘where is the proof of your call?’. In all honesty it’s understandable that proof is needed👍🏻
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I love it when you talk all Posh👍🏻🤣🤣
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I do better DT, if I’m not guaranteed it in writing they don’t get my business. I don’t deal with Mickey Mouse outfits, to the letter or not at all.
PS-no pun intended.
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When we worked the tyres on our cars used to wear out. Since we retired I have replaced them on both cars due to cracking between the treads. This was after around 5 years on both, with tyres less than 6 years old. Still 4 / 5 mm of tread on them ☹️. Although my 4 WD ones are a bit pricey, the four all season ones on the OH's Yaris only cost £260, so it is surprising that some take the risk of running on such old rubber.
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Yes and you can still buy "part worn" many are shipped in from Germany where the rules re tread depth are much stricter than the UK so lots of tyres that fail in Germany still ok over here, many also are removed from cars that have been involved in an accident and are an insurance right off
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Crazed tyres are, I believe, the result of exposure to sunlight and/or attack from ozone in the atmosphere. For many years, ozone-resistant rubber compounds have been in general use. I know from personal experience that such compounds are used in the manufacture of rubber-based anti vibration mountings, and I think this protection extended to vehicle tyres. I cannot remember the last time I saw a crazed tyre - have I been lucky or just a bit unobservant in this respect?
I keep a check on my tyres, and discard them when a tread depth of 3 mm is reached, but I will in future be checking more carefully for any signs of crazing or cracking. Something else to be concerned about!
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