Know the law to avoid fines and penalty points
Keep a regular check on your tyres and you could avoid a fine of £2,500 and 3 penalty points on your licence for EACH tyre that may be defective.
UK law requires that your vehicle is fitted with the correct type and size of tyre. This means having the right size, speed rating and load rating for the purpose, as well as having your tyres inflated to the manufacturers recommended pressure.
Driving a vehicle with tyres worn down below the legal limit could not only land you with a hefty fine and penalty points, but also represents a severe safety issue.
The legal limit in the UK is a minimum tread depth of 1.6 millimetres, across the central 75 percent of the tread around the complete circumference of the tyre.
However, if your tyres have the legal minimum tread depth of 1.6 millimetres, your vehicle will take 8 metres longer to stop in wet weather at 50 mph against tyres with a tread depth of 3 millimetres.
Vehicle manufacturers recommend you check your tyres regularly and have them replaced before they reach the legal limit.
31 Dec 2009 at 16:46 pm
Thanks for this Ross. I was interested to learn about the tread needing to be good across 3/4 of the tyre – my Alfa is notorious for scrubbing the inside tread off, especially on the fronts.
01 Jan 2010 at 07:45 am
Mr Allen,
Thank you for your comment. Its a nice easy one to answer. The Italian’s love their negative camber, gives loads of front end grip, fantastic to drive, the bad news is the front tyres wear on the inner edge due to the weight of the car is acting down on the inner edge. We can take out the negative camber and give you correct tyre wear, but then you should have brought a Volvo not a Alfa. In summing up this problem i conclude that although frustrating, the alternative is far far worse.
Enjoy your motoring, i hope this helps in some way.
Regards.
Ross.