Bald, Tyres Illegal After Tomorrow

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31974, 29 April 1969, Page 14

Bald, Tyres Illegal After Tomorrow

With the regulation governing the minif mum tread allowed on tyres coming into force ’ on Thursday, tyre firms in Christchurch have reported a big increase in business in the last few weeks, but many in the industry think there are still many tyres about that will not pass inspection.

Spokesmen for the larger' tyre companies said the industry could cope with the ( demand if there was no panic buying, but some sizes might . be scarce for a week or two. The only real shortage at the moment appears to be ! 520 x 14 tyres, which fit ears I such as Morris Minors. Suppliers say the demand i for new tyres and retreads - has been about equal, and the i average number of tyres re- . placed on each car is two. One supplier instructed its service-station outlets some (time ago to look out for (tyres on customers’ cars that! would need replacing fairly; soon, and has been able to ( spread the demand. One effect of the new regu- , lation will be that many more ( tyres will be suitable for re-! ( treading, for until now, ■ : motorists have tended to get , as much mileage as possible out of their tyres and have often worn them down too far and damaged the casing.! It will be an offence to run - a car on bald tyres even if, ■ it has a warrant of fitness. Al I set of tyres may pass inspec-i tion at the time a warrant is' ■ issued, but if a tyre after-! i wards wears to less than l-16th of an inch the driver : may be prosecuted if he continues to use it. The district officer of the

Ministry of Transport (Mr D. ■ L. Hogan) said yesterday that • traffic officers would soon be : issued with tread-depth ; gauges. They would enforce . the regulation from Thurst day. • City Council traffic officers i would use gauges from Thursday, said the Traffic Superin1 tendent (Mr J. F. Thomas) t The senior supervisor of ■ the City Council testing sta- • tions (Mr H. J. Macdonald) said that about 40 per cent i’of the cars going through the • stations had at least one tyre • that would be rejected under : the new regulations. •i Exceptions to the regular tions are vehicles such as tractors which are not capable of a speed of more than : 20 miles an hour and trailers; not exceeding a gross weight • jOf lOcwt. t( Power-cycles of more than ■6O c.c. must have visible ■ tread round the whole circumi ference of the tyre. If a tyre .(has a flat spot it will not be i! passed for a warrant of fit,ness, and the previous regulations covering damaged tyres •jwill still apply. Even the spare tyre, re(garded by many motorists as i a “get him home” tyre, may; • be affected by the new regu-! • lations, as it will be an offence to use it if it is too ; worn.