A new study by Kwik Fit has revealed a sharp rise in the proportion of penalty points awarded to drivers being attributed to the poor condition of their tyres.
Data collected from police forces across the UK revealed that half of all penalty points received by drivers last year for vehicle defect offences were due to tyre related issues. That figure has leapt from 40% in just two years.
Two thirds of penalty points issued tyre offences were for using a vehicle with insufficient tread, the legal minimum being 1.6mm. Worryingly, 26% of points were issued after police checks found vehicles being driven with tyres showing exposed ply or cord.
The results of the survey come hot on the heels of a joint study by Highways England and safety organisation Tyresafe which revealed that more than a quarter of tyres were already illegal by the time the owners had them replaced. The figures lead Tyresafe to estimate that 10 million vehicles could currently be driving on illegal tyres.
Kwik Fit’s Roger Griggs said, “These figures reveal that some drivers on British roads are taking serious risks with both their own safety and the safety of other road users. We would encourage drivers to pay much closer attention to the condition of their tyres – after all they are the only things keeping their car connected to the road.
“There is absolutely no excuse for a tyre being worn down so far that its ply or cord is exposed – it will have gone past the legal minimum way before that point. If drivers are trying to save money on their motoring, then risking penalty points, a fine and higher insurance premiums by not replacing their tyres is not the best way to go about it.”
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