WORN TYRES.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19512, 10 June 1933, Page 12

WORN TYRES.

There appears to be a diversity of opinion on when a pneumatic tyre may be considered so worn that is continued use on the car is dangerous, states an overseas motoring journal. Under the English traffic law drivers may be proceeded against for using tyres in an unsafe condition, and it has been held in some courts that a tyre which has worn smooth and has no tread left is unsafe, and owners have been fined on that ground. Recently, when proceedings were taken on a complaint that the two front tyres of a lorry were defective, having worn smooth, and therefore being liable to cause a skid, expert testimony was that although the tyres were in such a state they were no more likely to cause skidding than a solid smooth tyre, as used on some types of commercial vehicles. The case was dismissed, the magistrate remarking that it was “on the border line.” More convincing are the records of certain careful tests in the United States, .and which revealed that smooth tyres are definitely less safe than those which have a proper thickness of patterned tread. It was estimated that it took approximately 25 extra feet in which to pull a car up on wet asphalt, when travelling at 30 m.p.h., on smooth treaded tyres, as against a similar vehicle shod with sharp patterned treaded tyres. Experts established that worn tyres that left a smooth impression on the roadway had the dangerously low safety rating of 51 per cent. Tests showed that a motorcar equipped with tyres in this condition required 76 feet to stop on a wet bitumen road, compared with 51 feet when the vehicle was shod with tyres with treads in good condition. A careful inspection was recently made by experts in New York to ascertain what percentage of motorists were driving on unsafe tyres. At the toll entrance to the new George Washington Bridge, spanning the Hudson River, between New York and New Jersey, 26,660 tyres fitted to passenger cars were examined by experts. It was found that 6060 covers, or about one out of every three examined, had treads worn absolutely smooth, and were unsafe for driving on wet asphalt roads. REDUCING TRAFFIC NOISE. An interesting experiment was recently carried out in Germany in minimising traffic noise. The police authorities of Wiebaden were of opinion that police penalties alone could not check the evil, so a hooter-free week was held, the results of which are regarded by experts as being a complete success. The originator of the experiment, in a talk from the Frankfort wireless station on the results obtained, said that the non-use of the hooter naturally imposed great self-restraint on motor drivers, but the Wiesbaden experiment had shown that one could quickly become accustomed to careful driving and also that other traffic and the public could soon acqquire a higher traffic discipline. He went on to say that preparations for a hooterless week in the whole of Germany were being made.