Follow Tyresafe’s advice on Part Worn Tyres:
This TyreSafe video was compiled to demonstrate the shocking discoveries TyreSafe made when purchasing fifty part-worn tyres. The video highlights the potential dangers of driving on part-worns, with devastating consequences for one driver, Keith Johnson, who was left paralysed from the chest down after an accident where tyres were identified as a major contributing factor. The tyres had a tread depth significantly below the legal minimum depth of 1.6mm.
Keith, from the North East, had opted for part-worn tyres to save money, two months prior to an outing with friends in his Renault Megane Scenic on a cold, damp morning in Cumbria. His car started to skin on an innocuous bend, rolled several times and ended up in a field. Luckily, his passengers escaped uninjured, but Keith was less fortunate, now only able to move his arms and neck. The tyres had a tread depth significantly below the legal minimum depth of 1.6mm.
During TyreSafe’s investigation into part-worns, of fifty part-worn tyres purchased, only one was begin sold legally, correctly marked and inspected. The remaining 49 tyres, sold as part-worns, were not marked as part-worn tyres, which is required by law.
Perhaps most alarmingly, was the percentage of tyres bought which carried not just minor to moderate damage, but potentially lethal damage. One tyre, in particular, had a piece of metal protruding through the tyre tread by approximately 5 cm. Other issues identified in the rest of the illegally sold part-worns included sub-standard repairs, exposed cords, damage to the beads, evidence of running under inflated and other forms of potentially dangerous damage.
Over a third of the tyres examined had damage deeming them unsafe. Which brings us to the most fundamental problem with part-worn tyres; you just don’t know their history.