June 2012: Trading Standards Must Be Adjusted Regarding Part Worn Tyres

Part worn tyres are a problem that has been strongly debated over the past months in the UK and currently Trading Standards in the UK are desiring to increase the regulations concerning the commercialization of part worn tyres in order to help consumers and increase safety.

This new movement has begun after the numerous negative results that have appeared related to the issue after a campaign conducted by TyreSafe and Auto Express a couple of weeks ago.

In the study, the companies have purchased a total on 50 tyres from different part worn tyres retailers from numerous regions in the UK. 98% of the tyres that participated in the study did not meet the safety requirements to be sold and 1/3 of the tyres had different forms of damage that were highly dangerous.

Despite the fact that the current legislation on the matter is quite clear, the sale of inadequate part worn tyre is a significant problem. For this reason, the UK Trading Standards need to investigate and resolve the issue as it is of high urgency.

Many consider that worn tyre retailers need to be further educated on the issue to understand the severity of the problem, as part worn tyres can be a matter of life or death.

The reason why numerous organisations are pushing the issue is because one of the tyres in question contained a metal piece that protruded 5cm through the tread. This would have lead to sudden tyre failure if fitted to a car and it would have lead to a severe accident.

Besides this case, which will most likely be found sometimes among retailers and which is a great threat for consumers, the campaign also uncovered numerous other irregularities such as: incomplete repairs that might cause tyre failure, exposed cords, clear evidence of bead and runflat damage.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that TyreSafe holds a vast campaign regarding the issue, tyre safety remains one of the crucial problems in terms of driving safety in the UK. Only in 2011, in the UK there were 1200 casualties from accidents in which defective, under-inflated or incorrectly refurbished part worn tyres were the main cause.

The main reason for the urgency of improving the regulations behind part worn tyres is because of the current economic problem which has forced many consumers to reorient themselves to the alternative of part worn tyres which are significantly more affordable.

Because of this fact, it is impetuous to tackle rogue traders that offer part worn tyres that do not meet the regulations as well as to redesign the current regulations on the matter so that they would be less interpretative and harder to bypass.

As a conclusion, we recommend that you avoid purchasing part worn tyres, unless you know the reputation of the trader and you are 100% sure that the tyres commercialized meet all the requirements. Our strongest recommendation is that you purchase new tyres which are suitable for your driving needs and that you periodically check their integrity and their inflation rate.