Why do MOT testers not care about tyre age?

[DOCG]

I was at a car show recently and saw that a car was on tyres that were dated as being from 2005, I checked the MOT history online and the tyres were not even listed as an advisory.

Old tyres can be absolutely lethal, even if they don't appear to be cracked or perished, why would a vehicle safety check not take this into consideration?

[SlimJim16v]

Good point. The crash that killed Paul Walker was put down to old tyres I think.

Various sources give a life of 5 - 8 years, so probably 10 max.

[lost in espace]

I have just replaced the rears Hankooks on my son's newly purchased 2015 VW Up! They were orginal as it has only done 20k loads of tread but awful cracks on the sidewalls, which was an advisory. My son reports the Falcons that replaced them are loads better.

[gazza285]

Tyre age is not an MOT testable item on cars.

[popegregory]

gazza285 said:

Tyre age is not an MOT testable item on cars.

This. It’s like asking why they don’t care about what colour it is.

[gazza285]

SlimJim16v said:

Good point. The crash that killed Paul Walker was put down to old tyres I think.

Nothing to do with going double the speed limit?

[InitialDave]

gazza285 said:

Tyre age is not an MOT testable item on cars.

It probably should be, I feel a rule of at least requiring an advisory at 10 years isn't unreasonable.

[brillomaster]

Yeah im surprised they arent looked at, old tyres turn very hard and brittle, and thus have very little grip. I think tyres 10 years old should be an mot fail, let alone an advisory. A car with tyres over 20 years old should be considered dangerous.

[DOCG]

gazza285 said:

Tyre age is not an MOT testable item on cars.

That's my question, why isn't it when it is clearly a matter of safety?

[Mercdriver]

My wife’s car, 9 year old and 9000 miles on original tyres, advisory on MOT cracking on side walls.

So scrapped tyres and fitted new despite still enough tread for many miles. Probably sold to someone who did not care.

Just not worth the risk

[DOCG]

gazza285 said:

Nothing to do with going double the speed limit?

Nearly every accident has multiple factors, if the car was on brand new tyres the driver wouldn't have lost control.

[Louis Balfour]

DOCG said:

gazza285 said:

Tyre age is not an MOT testable item on cars.

That's my question, why isn't it when it is clearly a matter of safety?

Because there is no law about car tyre age.

[DOCG]

Louis Balfour said:

Because there is no law about car tyre age.

Why not? It should be included in a vehicle safety inspection when old tyres become hard as rocks and give very little grip.

[sixor8]

Due to a bad coach accident, the law was changed for MoT tyre age regarding LGV vehicles. From Feb 2021, they have to be less than 10 years old.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/use-of-...

Failure on a vehicle such as this can be catastrophic, less so on a car.

They are more easily examined for condition too on a car, especially regarding the inner tyre of a double wheel axle with inner and outer wheels on a LGV. Perhaps there should be, I've seen tyres over 30 years old on cars at classic auctions.

[anonymous-user]

DOCG said:

I was at a car show recently and saw that a car was on tyres that were dated as being from 2005, I checked the MOT history online and the tyres were not even listed as an advisory.

Old tyres can be absolutely lethal, even if they don't appear to be cracked or perished, why would a vehicle safety check not take this into consideration?

Ask your MP?

[Louis Balfour]

DOCG said:

Louis Balfour said:

Because there is no law about car tyre age.

Why not? It should be included in a vehicle safety inspection when old tyres become hard as rocks and give very little grip.

Don't know, there should be. It's probably for the same reason that the braking distances in the Highway Code are out of date.

[Davie]

On a similar vein, your insurer will flake out if you dare do anything that comes even remotely close to a modification... but run your M2 on HappyGallop tyres at 2mm and "Yeah nah, we don't care"

[gazza285]

DOCG said:

gazza285 said:

Nothing to do with going double the speed limit?

Nearly every accident has multiple factors, if the car was on brand new tyres the driver wouldn't have lost control.

Can you say that for certain? New tyres have grip limits as well. The main cause of that crash was driver error, would the outcome have been the same if he was driving at the 45mph limit?

[Mr Tidy]

brillomaster said:

Yeah im surprised they arent looked at, old tyres turn very hard and brittle, and thus have very little grip. I think tyres 10 years old should be an mot fail, let alone an advisory. A car with tyres over 20 years old should be considered dangerous.

I don't think age is the issue, but why do modern tyres suffer from these issues when it was never a problem 20/30 years ago?

My sister bought a 3 year old Fiat 500 in 2021 and the Pirellis on it all had advisories for cracking when it had it's first MOT.

My former Mrs got advisories for her Goodyear rear tyres last December, but they were fitted in 2011!

[Milkyway]

I’m sure that it is wise to replace a tyre after five yeas, as the rubber degrades.

A few years ago My Dad had a blowout on his caravan... the tyres were the first thing that the Police checked.
( Just a cautionary tale).

https://www.protyre.co.uk/car-help-advice/tyre-saf...

Edited by Milkyway on Saturday 28th October 23:15