Are the tyres on your classic safe?
Check your tyres"!
And by that, it doesn't just mean checking the tyre pressures and making sure there is enough tread, but making sure the side walls are in good condition and the tyres not unduly old.
Her Majesty's Coroner for Manchester has supplied details of an accident that took place last year in which the driver of an H registered MG B lost his life when a rear tyre burst on the M56. Evidence shows that the driver was a skilled mechanic and a careful and experienced driver who was not travelling particularly fast at the time. The car was described by police as being maintained in an excellent condition. The surviving passenger said that just before the accident the driver had commented that a "tyre wobble" had developed and he was going to "drive through it". The wobble went briefly, but then the tyre burst, causing the car to spin, clip a kerb and flip over.
Subsequent investigation showed that - although hardly used - the tyre was 25 years old. It was one of a set of as-new tyres and wheels purchased at an autojumble the previous year for use for show purposes - at the time of the incident the car was on its way to a show at Oulton Park.
The Daily Telegraph recently carried a piece in the 'Honest John' column suggesting that tyre age was to become a testable item in the MoT test. We immediately contacted the Vehicle Standards and Engineering Division at the Department for Transport and were advised that although most tyres already carry dates of manufacture in their side-walls, there are no plans to implement regulations to check such dates at the annual MoT test. DfT would, of course, change their mind if tyre failure due to age became a significant cause of accidents.
The British Rubber Manufacturers Association suggests that if a tyre is six years old and remains unused it should not be put into service. It also suggests that in ideal conditions tyres may have a life expectancy of 10 years. Clearly, if DfT did decide to implement tyre date testing, there would be considerable implications for owners of older vehicles and we would certainly be making appropriate representations.
The moral of the story is not to wait for the government to impose tyre testing on everyone, but to make sure your own tyres are in good condition, never use undated second hand tyres and never try to drive through a "tyre wobble".
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