Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. has developed a new technology that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to estimate the properties of the rubber used in its tyres and also detect the structural changes that occur during use. It calls this technology ‘Tyre Leap AI Analysis’.
The UK government is consulting on plans to ban old tyres for buses, coaches, lorries and minibuses and a new law could be introduced this year and come into force early 2020. Tyres aged 10 years and older would be banned from use on buses, coaches, lorries and minibuses under the new proposals. However, further clarity about precisely what the new rules will cover is needed.
Following strenuous campaigning from the industry, Tyred and Frances Molloy in particular, the government announced on 26 February that it will consult on “options to ban older tyres from use on buses, coaches, heavy goods vehicles and mini-buses to help keep road users safe”. The Department for Transport explained that the proposed legislation will make it illegal for these vehicles to run with a tyre aged 10 years or over.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has begun a crackdown on tyres that are more than 10 years old. As part of Road Safety Week, the DVSA has updated its Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness, to ensure large vehicles remain safe to drive by limiting the use of old tyres.
Davanti has exhibited its extended range of tyres at Automechanika Dubai, reporting positive reactions to its expansion strategy across Europe and Asia. The brand included its recently launched all-terrain tyre, the Terratoura, explaining that a full range of tyres is a prerequisite for building Davanti’s profile in new markets. The company also mentioned the value of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) accreditation in the Middle East – a measure Davanti has taken with its whole range, where competitors have chosen to accredit only the most popular sizes.
Roads Minister Jesse Norman has announced the government is investing a reported £250,000 in the first publicly funded research into tyre ageing. On 1 March a Department for Transport statement said it has commissioned “independent scientific research which will provide a fuller picture on the safety of tyres as they get older”.
In the three months since the Tyred Campaign for a ban of all tyres older than ten years on all commercial vehicles launched, support has been forthcoming from a broad base of sources. Powerful and influential people in business and politics getting behind Tyred include Maria Eagle MP; Steve Rotherham, Liverpool Metro Mayor; Stefan Hay, CEO – National Tyre Distributors Association (NTDA); and Vinay Parmar, executive director of National Express Coaches.
The tyre industry has been involved in numerous awareness-raising campaigns over the years. The quality and creativity of these has increased significantly, especially in the decade since TyreSafe came into existence. However, when Frances Molloy re-launched the “Tyred” campaign on 30 June 2017, you couldn’t help but feel that you were witnessing something quite unique. As most of us in the industry already know, Frances’ son Michael Molloy died in a coach crash in the summer of 2012 that was caused by poor condition, 19 and a half year-old tyres. In fact no tyres on the coach were less than 10 years old. So when she says that Tyred is all about taking old tyres off the road, people listen.
The Tyred Campaign – which seeks to address the issue of tyre aging is being launched on Friday 30 June, between 8:30 and 10:00 at Mercure Liverpool Atlantic Tower Hotel (Kilmore Suite), Chapel St, L3 9RE. Leaders from the tyre and transport industry as well as politicians and influencers from across the UK will be present.
Ever since her 18 year old son Michael was killed in a coach crash on the A3 in Surrey in September 2012. Liverpool-based Frances Molloy has spent the past four years campaigning for legislation to be passed on the condition and age of tyres. The accident was caused by the explosion of a tyre that was found to be second hand and 19 and a half years old.
Road safety campaigner and Brityrex 2014 TyreTalk speaker, Frances Molloy has been “encouraged” by the response from tyre industry representatives following a meeting in Westminster. Supported by Liverpool Walton MP, Labour’s Steve Rotheram, Molloy is campaigning for a change in the law on the fitment of aged tyres. Her son, Michael, was killed in a 2012 crash caused by the blowout of a second-hand, 19.5-year old tyre alongside a fellow passenger and the driver of a coach.
Prominent tyre legislation campaigner, Frances Molloy has described the Secretary of State for Transport’s response to the issue of aged tyres in the market as “weak and lacking in leadership”. Molloy is lobbying the government to change the law on the fitment of over-age tyres, and gave a powerful presentation during Brityrex International’s TyreTalk seminar programme in Manchester. Describing the coalition government of being “anti-legislation”, Molloy vowed to maintain her campaign until the government introduces legislation to restrict the fitment of old tyres on Public Service Vehicles.
The campaign for tighter laws on aged tyres has taken another step forward with the presentation of a Bill in the House of Commons calling for a maximum age limit for tyres fitted to public service vehicles. The Ten Minute Rule Bill was introduced by Liverpool Walton MP Steve Rotherham yesterday, and although approval is by no means certain it achieves the important aim of increasing awareness of the dangers aged tyres can pose. Per the Bill, operating a public service vehicle with tyres that are ten or more years old would become an offence; this age limit would be enforced by Traffic Commissioners, and tyre age checked and recorded during the annual vehicle test. Rotherham also stated that the Bill would accommodate tyre manufacturers’ ongoing research, and the proposed maximum age limit could thus “easily be increased” should evidence verify that a newly-developed bus or coach tyre was “demonstrably safe” beyond ten years of age.
Frances Molloy, a prominent tyre legislation campaigner, has been announced as a speaker at October’s Brityrex International’s TyreTalk seminars. Molloy, who is chief executive of Health@Work and chair of Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust, has been lobbying the UK government to change the law on the sale and fitting of overage tyres following the death of her 18-year old son alongside the driver and another passenger in an accident caused by the blowout of a second-hand 19.5-year old tyre.
At a meeting on 6 May, members of the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority unanimously voted to support the tyre aging motion that has arisen from the campaign begun by Liverpool woman Frances Molloy following the 2012 death of her son in a coach crash. The motion, titled Coach Safety & Prevention of Road Traffic Accidents, calls for an age limit of six years to be placed on tyres fitted to coaches.