BBC Britain False - Part Worn Tires 12/06/15
They may seem like a cheap alternative, especially if your car better known for days, but part worn tires are a potential accident in the making.
The tires are extremely important to keep you and other drivers safe on the road, they are the only part of the car in contact with the road and therefore much depends on their condition.
Did you know that every year in the UK more than 1,200 motorists were injured in an accident where illegal, defective or under-inflated tires were a contributory factor TyreSafe source.
In the UK, it is illegal to not sell a tire part worn Legislation has been introduced to allow the sale, subject to the tires that meet a number of strict criteria, however, the number of used tire pieces sold illegally disturbing and poses a serious safety risk to motorists.
A campaign by TyreSafe found that 98 of part worn tires, they were sold illegally checked - 34 tire containing dangerous forms of damage.
As we feel very strongly about this and actively encourage motorists to buy new tires.
To protect motorists, commercial standards defined the legal expectations of a tire part worn.
Having an approval mark and an indication of load capacity of speed.
Be marked by PART-WORN in capital letters at least 4 mm high.
Does not have a break of 25 mm or 10 of the section width of the tire.
No internal or external lump, strain or tear.
Not having penetrating damage that was not repaired.
The original tire tread pattern must be at least 2 mm deep.
Although these rules have been set up to try to help regulate the sale of part worn tires, that a tire that has been damaged and repaired, is authorized to sell should raise eyebrows.
If you have looked into buying a tire part worn and believe that the tires were on sale do not comply with the legislation, it would be advisable to contact Trading Standards.
One of the main reasons is the potential dangers that lurk within the internal structure of a tire used Although tires must comply with certain rules, the test that occur when a part worn tire is communicated judge if it is safe for resale does not make use of any X-ray machine and as such it is impossible to say that the invisible damage may have occurred.
Most scrap tires are imported, mostly from continental Europe, with many from Germany where the depth of the legal minimum tread of 3mm tires They are usually sold with about 50 thousands of miles of deep original tread meaning they were often used prior to the sale.
It is difficult to know the full history of a part worn tire You can never really know how many times they hit the curbs, was executed with the wrong air pressure, or if irreparable damage invisible.
The cost of a used tire part is, at first glance, less than that of a new tire The very nature they are a product used is the reflection.
However, despite the initial cost, part worn tires do not represent good value long term value.
Given the fact that part worn tires has already been used, they come with much less tread depth of new tires Part worn tires usually 4 mm or less, while a new tire on average comes with 8 mm of the tread.
Rather than simply consider the initial purchase price, drivers should look at the cost per mm of tire.
When you buy a part worn tire can have as little as 2 mm tread In the UK, the legal minimum tread of a tire is June 1 mm by 75 of the circumference of a tire So it would not be long before another new set of tires was required fields.
The depth of the tread is one of the key elements for safe driving, especially on wet road surfaces using grooves of a tire dispersed in water between the tire and the surface of the road.
If a tire has a depth of less tread, then it becomes increasingly ineffective to remove water This results in increased stopping distances and increased risk of aquaplaning.
When the British Association of tire manufacturers, conducted tests on the performance of tires with different levels of depth of the tread, the braking distance in wet weather for a tire with the minimum legal limit of 1 6 mm was almost 12m more than a new tire at 50mph.
Part worn tires, part worn tires.