Two situations recently have made me consider peoples' attitudes to tyres and safety.
A woman's car was broken down outside my house with a flat tyre. There was a problem undoing the wheel nuts and I offered to give a hand. I immediately noticed that the tyre was badly worn to the point where the cords were exposed around the complete circumference of the tyre.
The woman knew it needed to be replaced but had not done so as yet. She was on her way to collect her daughter from school. The tyre could fail at any moment and I shudder to think how many times she and her daughter have travelled on roads at speed with the tyre in this condition and the potential risk of a blowout.
Around the same time, I also had someone mention to me that the MOT garage had wanted to fail their motorhome for some tyres that were 18 years old! They unfortunately could not issue a failure as currently, tyre age is not covered. We had a discussion around tyre age and recommendations for caravans and motorhomes regarding tyre age and replacement. The tyres are also run at higher pressures which increases the need for caution.
The man in question also mentioned that he is a classic car enthusiast with a number of cars in his collection and was knowledgeable on cars in general. His son also has his own tyre business and he said he will call in at some point to get the tyres replaced (there did not seem to be any urgency).
The photo is a 10 year old tyre which looked fine but has suffered a blowout.
I appreciate that the cost of replacement tyres is an issue for some people, however, in both these situations a catastrophic failure is highly likely.
People are gambling with their lives and those of their family and other road users. What price tyre safety?
