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Safety concerns over part-worn tyres

Report by TyreSafe finds serious safety defects in 34% of part-worn tyres.


A recent study of part-worn tyres in the UK by TyreSafe and the National Tyre Distributors Association found that over a third contained safety defects. Mystery shoppers purchased the tyres, which were checked by independent inspectors.

Defects included 'dangerous' puncture repairs, exposed cords, damaged beads, penetration damage and evidence of the tyre being used while under-inflated. Used tyres have to meet a number of safety checks such as structural integrity, inflation, that they have been properly repaired if necessary and that they have at least 2mm of tread over the entire circumference. It is also mandatory that tyres are permanently marked 'part-worn'.

"The results of this latest investigation are truly horrific," commented Stuart Jackson, chairman, TyreSafe. "Your safety on the road is reliant on the condition of your tyres so it's essential that retailers only offer for sale either brand new tyres, or those used ones that have been carefully and thoroughly inspected to ensure they meet the various requirements laid down by law."

Part worn tyres apparently don't even represent good value according to the reported findings of a previous TyreSafe study. The cost per usable mm of tread on a part-worn tyre was found to be 20 per cent higher than for a new tyre.

Anything else?
Not every part-worn tyre is defective; 64 per cent of the tyres inspected did not have any faults, but the risk of something being wrong is considerably higher than with new tyres. If you're looking at saving money part-worn tyres might not be the way to economise.

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Published on October 22, 2014