TIC Survey Shows Worn Tyres Up

The TIC has released its latest survey figures, based on almost 30,000 tyres checked from March to November last year. These roadside checks involved almost half of all UK police forces.

There was mixed news – the number of defective or illegal tyres on cars and vans remained static, at 12 per cent. However, “worn tyres” – defined by the TIC as those with a tread depth below 2mm and considered to be in need of replacement for safety reasons – rose from 13 per cent the previous year to close on 14 per cent last year.

Better news though when it came to knowledge of the tyre law, with 24 per cent able to name the minimum legal tread depth, compared with 20 per cent in 2003. Furthermore, almost 55 per cent knew that a conviction for having a defective tyre carried three penalty points, compared with 46 per cent the year before.

Other points arising from the survey – 10 per cent of company cars had at least one defective tyre, compared with almost 13 per cent of privately-owned cars, while 550 tyres showed evidence of misalignment, 300 showed signs of degradation and nearly 150 were wrongly inflated.