Tyre-related vehicle offences on the rise

According to Police data collated by Kwik Fit, defective tyres account for a growing proportion of the total penalty points drivers receive for cars in poor condition.

The automotive fast-fit and repair company looked at data from the 23 police forces that provided a breakdown of statistics suitable for analysis (out of 46 police forces asked under a Freedom of Information request); Kwik-Fit focused on data pertaining to penalty points handed out for vehicle defects over the past three years. Its analysis showed that tyre-related issues accounted for 50 per cent of the defective vehicle offences for which drivers received penalty points last year – up from 40 per cent in 2013.

Most of these offences were related to insufficient tread, with 65 per cent of the penalty points given out for tread depths below the legal minimum of 1.6 millimetres. A further two per cent of the penalty points were handed to drivers whose vehicles didn’t even have 1 millimetre of tread on at least one tyre, while 26 per cent of tyre-related penalty point cases relate to the use of a motor vehicle or trailer fitted with a tyre worn down to the ply or cord. Insufficient or excessive tyre inflation only accounted for three per cent of cases, and two per cent of the penalty points were issued for the use of a tyre with a lump, bulge or tear.

This analysis supports the findings of a UK-wide study conducted by Tyresafe in conjunction with Highways England; this showed that the tread on 27.3 per cent of tyres at the time of their replacement was already below 1.6 millimetres. Using this study as a yardstick, Tyresafe estimates that 10 million vehicles plying UK roads this year could be driving on illegal tyres.

“These figures reveal that some drivers on British roads are taking serious risks with both their own safety and the safety of other road users. We would encourage drivers to pay much closer attention to the condition of their tyres – after all, they are the only things keeping their car connected to the road,” comments Roger Griggs, communications director at Kwik Fit. “There is absolutely no excuse for a tyre being worn down so far that its ply or cord is exposed – it will have gone past the legal minimum way before that point. If drivers are trying to save money on their motoring, then risking penalty points, a fine and higher insurance premiums by not replacing their tyres is not the best way to go about it.”