UK tyre safety organisation comes out against changing UK roadworthiness tests

ERJ staff report (DS)

London - UK tyre lobby group Tyresafe has come out against proposed changes to the UK vehicle roadworthiness tests, often called the MoT.

Rather than the current 3-1-1 system (first test at

three years, then annually thereafter), I the UK government is considering

delaying the first test until the vehicle is four years old

with the second inspection coming after another two

years with subsequent tests at two year intervals

(4-2-2) or single year intervals (4-2-1).

In a statement, Tyresafe said, “despite [tyres'] vital safety role, many drivers

fail to look after their tyres properly, relying on their

annual MOT inspection as a safety check. Independent research commissioned by TyreSafe in

2009 found that 19 percent of drivers had never checked

the depth of their vehicle's tyre tread.

It adds, “For these reasons, TyreSafe does not support any extension to the frequency of the MOT test.”

The group added that In 2009/10, 2.3 million MOT tests were failed

where 'condition of tyres' was one of the reasons

for referral; 1.6 million of these were because

owners had let their tread depths fall below the legal

minimum of 1.6mm.

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Press release from Tyresafe