The NTDA reports that the official launch of the 3mm tread depth awareness campaign has been deemed a major success. The association is confident that the campaign has received widespread publicity throughout the UK, citing 75 minutes of radio airplay, which is said to have reached over 3.5 million listeners.
Nokian Tyres will expand its popular Noktop 41 product family with a new studdable retreading tread, designed to offer superior grip in icy winter conditions. Studding can improve tyre grip on slippery ice by more than 20% compared to unstudded treads, says Nokian.
Intended for buses and timber, container and goods transportation, Nokian Noktop 41 Stud is a safe and environmentally friendly product. It is manufactured from HA oil-free rubber compounds developed for Nordic conditions.
Snow-covered roads, icy tarmac, wet, slush – those who want to be able to drive as safely as possible even in wintry conditions will need special tyres. The better the tread is able to transmit the traction forces, the less the vehicle will be likely to skid – regardless of whether it is a car, a truck or a bus.
Retreading specialist Kraiburg Austria’s range of products includes a variety of winter tyre profiles specially developed for commercial vehicles – both in the Kraiburg standard range as well as in the Kraiburg plus premium range.
MIRA (Motor Industry Research Association) and RoadSafe welcomed both journalists and ‘opinion formers,’ including representatives from the AA, police and RoSPA, to the association’s test grounds in Nuneaton last month, to host comparative tyre tread depth tests and to promote the industry’s 3mm tyre replacement cause.
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The number of worn and defective tyres on Scotland’s roads is still a cause for concern, says the Tyre Industry Council (TIC). Analysis from last year’s tyre checks has indicated that the number of badly worn tyres, having a tread depth at or below 2mm, is 17 per cent.
Roadside tyre checks carried out by Strathclyde Police late last year showed that 9.6 per cent of cars and light vans had one or more tyres below the legal limit.
Cooper-Avon Tyres has updated its road hazard warranty policy by extending the tread depth cover. Originally the warranty covered the first millimetre of depth expended, but now Cooper-Avon has increased this to cover 1.4mm of wear.
In an ambitious test project, the american consumer magazine “The Aviation Consumer” has undertaken, the magazine bought 11 aircraft tires and subjected them to 200 simulated landings, plus a skid test. “Sometimes the cheapest tire isn’t the best deal. What matters most is tread depth and the more, the better,” the magazine said. In tread depth alone, Goodyear’s “Flight Custom III” was the winner in the June issue.
The NTDA is to work with its European partners and FARCO in Holland to press for a review of the Tread Depth laws. It is seeking a new legal minimum for car tyres of 2 mm for S,T and H, and 3mm for higher speed rated tyres.There will also be campaigning for an increase in the minimum legal limit on commercial vehicle tyres.
In January, the Tyre Industry Council held one of its regular briefings for the press and associate companies. After welcome from Secretary Peter Taylor, Chris Wakley, who handles public relations for the TIC, gave a brief summary of last year’s activities. While stressing that the support from police forces was as strong as ever, he said that fewer tyre checks than planned had been carried out. One reason for this was the need for cars to accompany the Green Goddesses during the firefighters’ strike, but another major reason was the perennial problem of lack of fitters to attend roadside checks. The reasons for this have been frequently aired in this magazine, but the fact is, said Wakley, that fitters are essential for the exercise, as police are sometimes reluctant to interpret tyre law at the roadside and rely on the trade’s specialist knowledge. The end result is that the number of cars checked was around half of that in 2001. Despite this, the figures concerning illegal tyres are remarkably consistent, with 11.6% of cars checked having at least one tyre with a tread depth below 1.6 mm. The figure for 2001 was 11.7%. However, when we look at what the TIC describes as “badly worn tyres” (ie with a tread depth above the legal minimum but below 2mm), there has been a worrying increase, from 11.7% to 14.9%. Although common sense dictates that worn tyres increase the chances of an accident, this is not accepted by Government, who say that statistics show that tyres contribute to a very small number of accidents. The TIC’s answer to this is that the police rarely record tyre tread depths in accident situations, so the figures are artificially low.
Michelin has produced what it claims is the world’s largest tyre. The new radial XDR 59/80 R63 has been developed in conjunction with Caterpillar for its new 797B, the largest truck in the world, designed for use in large surface mines and weighing more than 600 tons. The tyre is more than 13 feet high, nearly five feet wide and weighs more than five tons. The tread depth is 4.5 inches and the tyre can carry a load in excess of 100 tons.
In the course of this year’s TyreCheck in Germany during May, 1.3 million cars were checked (previous year 200,000). 4 per cent of tyres had a tread depth below the 1.6 mm minimum, while another 15% had tread depths “near to” 1.6 mm. The TyreCheck, which was also carried out in other European countries, is designed to increase awareness of tyre safety. The German tyre dealers association (BRV, Bundesverband Reifenhandel und Vulkaniseur-Handwerk) described the participation of its members as “disappointing”, but the car testing organisations (TUV, Dekra, GTU) demonstrated a very high level of involvement.
Every so often, Continental Tyre UK assembles a panel of interested parties to talk through a subject of interest. The most recent ‘Round Table’ was on the subject of truck safety, particularly that of tyres. Roadside checks on trucks seem to reveal a story of tyre neglect, with many tyres showing damage which would be obvious to the most cursory examination, implying that nobody bothers to look. The legal minimum tread depth for trucks in the UK is 1mm, and has been so for the past three decades. Conti is not convinced that raising the limit to 1.6mm would have a significant effect on safety. Most good fleet operators change tyres at 2mm anyway, which is what Conti recommends. Roadside fitter safety was discussed – a dangerous job made even more so by the extensive use of the mobile phone, which removes the police from the equation. If the police do not know of a breakdown, they cannot provide safety backup for the fitter. Like many other companies, Continental provides a complete tyre management service for fleets, taking on all responsibility for tyre-related matters. This not only means peace of mind for the operator, but should ensure better maintained, safer tyres. Full details of the Round Table discussion can be found in TYRES & ACCESSORIES 6/2000.
In a step at rebuilding consumer confidence in the Firestone brand Bridgestone/Firestone announced an extension of its limited warranty and 30-day money back guarantee in the United States. The range covered by the warranty will be extended from 53 product lines to 97 covering almost all the company’s products. The programme will replace tyres that become unusable “for any reason attributed to workmanship or factory defect” for the first three years of ownership, the first four years after manufacture, or until the tyre tread depth is worn down to 1/16th of an inch, whichever comes first. The 30 day money back guarantee remains as it says, if the customer is unhappy, he will get his money back if he returns the goods within 30 days of purchase.
The Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) is launching a tyre safety awareness campaign called ‘Be Tire Smart – Play Your PART’ urging consumers to think about Pressure, Alignment, Rotation and Tread. The campaign supported by the American Automobile Association (AAA) comes in the light of a RMA survey which showed that most drivers failed a tyre safety quiz. In the survey only four percent admitted to checking tyre pressures regularly. Only 28 percent knew the regular service interval for rotating tyres. Only 22 percent knew the legal minimum tread depth. In the overall quiz only 23 percent managed to get a grade “C” pass or better.
Finland has followed its neighbour Sweden by passing a law which means that, from 1st December to 29th February, all cars in Finland must be fitted with M+S tyres, having a minimum tread depth of at least three millimetres. The law applies not only to Finnish motorists, but to foreign drivers too.
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