Road Safety What is Your Tyre Tread Depth?

Jonas Agwu

When was the last time you checked your tyres? When was the last time you sought the counsel of a qualified vulcanizer to assess your tyres? Do you know the amount of tread in your tyres and do you know the minimum that is safe for you to drive with? Are you familiar with   the provisions of the National Road Traffic Regulations, 2012?

The Regulations provide that as a private car owner, your vehicle should be checked once in a year while the same check should be done twice in a year for commercial vehicles? Let us go to the specifics of the Regulations. Section 140(1) stipulates that a vehicle intended for use on any public road should be subjected for examination before it is registered.

This examination, the Regulations states, should be conducted for new private vehicles every two years or when it has covered a mileage of 100,000 kilometres whichever comes first. The examination, it further states, should be conducted for all other private cars beyond two years old once in a year.

In the case of commercial vehicles, omnibuses and trailers, it provides for the same procedure to be conducted every six months. The essence of the examination is to determine whether the vehicle road worthiness conforms to prescribed requirements in relation to its construction, condition, accessories and other equipment. The second essence is whether the condition of the vehicle is such that its use on the road will not pose a danger to any other road user or cause damage to the road or any road furniture.

I know that I am not a vulcanizer but every Sunday, I embark on a routine as a member of the security team in my Church. Besides keeping watch over all cars parked, we also take the added responsibility to check the state of church members’ cars, especially tyres. On Sunday February 19, 2023, I was doing my usual vehicle inspection while service was on when I stumbled on a familiar safety concern on a car.

The car was a Toyota Venza owned by a couple who got married barely a year and some months ago. Already, the marriage is blessed with a lovely baby girl. Weekly, this couple drives around town and to and fro Church with God’s bundle of joy perhaps ignorant of the risk they face. And that risk is driving with a substandard, flat tyre with a tread depth that has become too dangerous to use and unsafe.

If you take a sample of vehicles in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory or across the country, you will discover the same shocker. Most drivers or car owners indulge in the risky habit of ignoring the state of their tyres. A handful just don’t care as those who are Christians hide under the illusion that the blood of Jesus will provide a buffer. Others will argue that times are tough and so they just have to manage what they currently can afford.

This explains why I took time last year in December to share some materials on tyre safety for almost a month. Just last week, I again stumbled on a very interesting material which I would love to share with you, hoping the findings which are not necessarily new will provide additional information to guide. The findings were based on data conducted by Professor Peter Wells of the Centre for Automotive Industry Research at Cardiff University in the UK and commissioned by Halfords.

It has resulted in calls by experts demanding for new laws to improve safety as millions risk huge fines   They are “calling on the Government to review the legal limit on tyre tread depth, following this research study which found that cars with worn but legal tyres take almost 90 feet longer to stop than vehicles with tyres in good condition when travelling at 70mph. This is the length of around seven cars or one basketball court which they submit could have disastrous consequences for road users.

The study showed that the difference in stopping distance between tyres with 4mm of tread and worn tyres with just 1.6mm tread (in the same wet, winter driving conditions) is a huge 36 percent which equates to an additional 89ft.” Meanwhile, the legal minimum amount of tread is 1.6mm, meaning a car with this level of tread is technically legal and would pass an MOT in the UK for example, despite its tyre performance already being significantly compromised. Strangely many are more concerned with passing the test without bordering on how safe. This explains why many may not be checked again until their next MOT, by which time they are likely to be far below the legal limit, with stopping performance compromised even more.

The legal limit of tyre tread is 1.6mm.This legal tyre tread is 1.6mm across the central three-quarters of the tyre, with the tread having to have this minimum requirement across its complete circumference. Following the revelations, experts have urged the Government to rethink the law to help protect drivers from danger on the roads.

According to one of the experts, “we need to get a grip on tyre safety, stressing that the current legal limit for tyre tread depth is too low and it is putting millions of motorists at risk. What this means is that your tyre may meet the legal limit but may not be fine or safe which calls for a rethink on how you care for your tyre.

When I wrote about tyres in December 2022,I urged you to seek an expert to conduct a careful examination of all areas of the tyre, inside and out, by a trained specialist. The removal of the tyre from the wheel is essential because internal damage is not visible while the tyre is fitted.

I equally gave you a hint in case you have a tyre puncture. I reminded you that modern tyres are very sturdy and can cope with most things. Yet punctures, though, can and do still happen. A tyre specialist should check your tyre after a puncture to decide whether it can be repaired. I also took you through the safety procedures when you have a puncture while on the move. First you must always consider your safety and that of your passengers by pulling off the road in a safe place. Then you put on the parking brake, switch off the engine and put the car in a low gear (or in Park on automatics), switch on your hazard warning lights, wear a yellow high-visibility vest, place a warning triangle at the side of the road 100m behind the car. This is because your  safety comes first – always!