With a view towards improving safety standards and raising awareness of the law relating to part-worn tyres, Cumbria County Council’s Trading Standards team and Cumbria Police plan to visit tyre retailers throughout February.
TyreSafe will be hosting its first ever webinar on Monday 25th February in a bid to “improve the standards of part worn tyres” being sold in the UK. According to the organisation, the session will provide attendees with a summary of the legislation affecting the sale of part worn tyres. It will also deliver some practical advice on how the tyres should be inspected, common problems to look for and what steps must be taken to ensure used tyres are sold legally.
TyreSafe has announced that GiTi Tire has become its first new member in 2013. The company’s managing director – Europe Richard Lyons said that GiTi was demonstrating its commitment to customers’ safety and its products’ quality by joining the organisation. TyreSafe chairman Stuart Jackson pronounced himself “delighted to welcome GiTi Tire on board as a key member”. TyreSafe will continue to run a number of campaigns targeting wider awareness of tyre safety, including October’s Tyre Safety Month. The organisation’s major focus this year is on promoting tyre safety to young drivers, following its high-profile demonstrations of the hidden dangers of part-worn tyres.
A few years ago people were asking if this fuel-saving thing is ever going to catch on. Now virtually every manufacturer has a fuel-saving line and a fuel-economy strategy – we even have mandatory product labels comparing products on the basis of this characteristic.
Christmas, traditionally one of the busiest times of the year on the roads, is just over a week away, and TyreSafe has issued drivers a timely reminder about the importance of checking their tyres. It notes that the conditions that come with the hoped-for white Christmas are not the only driving conditions that car owners will need to treat with caution – damp roads can be just as hazardous, particularly if tyres are left unchecked.
TyreSafe’s 2012 tyre safety month “reached new levels of…participation”, according to the industry body. A record amount of printed point-of-sale material, including 200,000 leaflets and posters, were distributed to those in the tyre industry, particularly to participating tyre retailers and workshops offering free tyre safety checks to car owners.
Tyre retailer Merityre Specialists Ltd, which has 22 branches across southern England, has joined TyreSafe. Commenting on its reasons for joining Tyresafe, the retailer’s director Noel Pope said that “Educating motorists about safe driving should be a priority for all businesses connected to the automotive industry, especially those at the sharp end who have face-to-face contact with the public. It’s vital that drivers understand just how safety critical tyres are to a car’s handling and the performance of the tyre should be high on the agenda when it comes to their purchase.”
The problem of growing part worn tyre sales in the UK has been much discussed within the industry this year, though while it can be seen as symptomatic of certain sections of the British market’s attitude to tyre purchases, the problem is reaching a level that appears to warrant government intervention in at least one US state. Tire Review reports that Florida State Representative Jason Brodeur has proposed a bill that tackles both the sale of used tyres and tyre aging, backed by an Orlando law firm. The still unnamed and un-numbered proposal would require “retail used tyre dealers” to inform buyers of the ago of the used tyres they are buying and provide “certain warnings relating to the age of used tyres.” While the Bill is primarily concerned with the age of sold tyres, it has strong implications for those selling part worn tyres, making the dealer more responsible for knowing the provenance of their products.
As the winter nights draw in and the country gets ready to go back to GMT, TyreSafe is reminding drivers that it's not just their clocks that may need changing. Now is also the ideal time to check if their tyres are legal and safe enough to carry them through the winter months when road conditions become more treacherous and accident levels typically increase.
TyreSafe is encouraging motorists to consider fitting winter tyres, offering 147 reasons why they should. The 147 refers to the number of times temperatures fell below seven degrees Celsius during prime commuting hours on 147 separate days between the beginning of October 2011 and the end of March 2012, according to the Met Office.
TyreSafe chairman, Stuart Jackson has commended Cornwall Council Road Safety Team for its tyre safety roadshow in partnership with Devon & Cornwall Police and Steve Andrews Tyres, marking October’s Tyre Safety Month. Cornish shoppers at three of the largest UK supermarkets will have the opportunity to have their tyres checked for free.
According to TyreSafe, a record number of garages and tyre retailers are showing their support for this year’s Tyre Safety Month by offering free tyre safety checks to motorists. The safety inspections are just one part of this year's campaign, which is trying to help drivers stay safe on the roads as we approach the wettest and most treacherous months of the year.
October is fast approaching and TyreSafe invites garages, tyre dealers and other road safety professionals to start their preparation for Tyre Safety Month by ordering their campaign materials. This year’s campaign is titled ‘Time for a Change?’ and addresses the perennial favourite British topic of conversation, the weather. To be precise, it highlights the need for drivers to make sure their tyres are safe and legal at a time when the weather normally takes a turn for the worse.
Vredestein UK managing director Stuart Jackson also serves as the chairman of TyreSafe, so it is safe to say he is pleased to welcome the safety organisation’s latest member – Vredestein’s parent company Apollo Tyres.
Following last month’s “Panorama” which covered issues relating to illegal tyre dumping, you could be forgiven for thinking this column has gone a bit “Radio Times.” It hasn’t, but it seems tyres are getting far more than their 15 minutes of fame this summer. While last month’s piece looked at the pros and cons of the BBC’s, shall we say, variable TV coverage (which leapt from theme to theme apparently without fully thinking through the lack of linkage between them), this time it was the turn of radio.
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