If There’s an “R” in the Month!

“The atrocious road conditions of recent weeks has spawned some debate on the safety benefits of certain vehicles, centring on ultra strong safety shells, anti lock brakes and safety bags protecting every part of the drivers anatomy! However there does not seem to be any reference to the one component which largely dictates exactly where the vehicle is going – the tyres.” This was the recent comment of NTDA director, Richard Edy, in a statement concerning the UK’s current campaign for the introduction of ‘cold’ weather tyres.

“Motorists think of winter tyres as being chunky treaded off road type units, in fact the tyre manufacturers have quietly been developing a whole new range of tyres which retain the pattern of modern tyres but use rubber which is designed to grip substantially better in cold weather, especially at temperatures below 7ºC and particularly if the road is damp or wet,” continued the director.

The solution to reducing accidents in the winter already exists, says Mr Edy, who advocates the use of specialist cold weather tyres utilising rubber compound technology that outgrips and outlasts conventional summer tyres.

“Different tyres for different temperatures was borne from F1 and Rallying and has been commonplace in the motor sport arena for many years,” he continued. “Whilst in F1 they do not race in snow or ice the concept applies as F1 teams choose the tyres that provide highest levels of grip. Relate this to normal roads and higher grip means higher safety.”

A point widely discussed in the ongoing ‘winter tyre’ discussion is that the market for cold weather tyres in the UK is minimal, about 50,000 units out of a total replacement market of 27million. Mr Edy justifies the UK campaign be explaining: “Most Northern European countries such as Germany, and the Benelux countries, have developed a significant market, with Holland in particular, growing their market for this tyre to over 10 per cent of their market despite experiencing very similar winter weather conditions and having a distinct lack of hills!”

“In the NTDA we have started the debate on whether there is a market for cold weather tyres with a seminar at the NEC last month that was attended by over 100 retailers and manufacturers – we are investigating the potential for cold weather tyres and certainly the fleet market will be a sector we will want to talk to.

“There are issues which need to be resolved such as storage and fitment costs and these are part of our discussions with both retailers and manufacturers, however the safety benefits are clearly identifiable so our thoughts that you should fit winter tyres when there is an “r” in the month is a growing reality,” he concludes.