Minister not persuaded on tyre ban proposal

Britain’s Transport Minister, Patrick McLoughlin has yet to be persuaded that a ban on the use of tyres over 10 years of age would be beneficial to road safety.

The Minister made his comments in a letter to a Liverpool mother, who lost her son in a coach crash last year. Frances Molloy and Garston and Halewood MP Maria Eagle met with Transport Minister MP McLoughlin last month to call for an age limit of 10 years on tyres.

Mrs Molloy’s son Michael, 18, from Woolton , died along with Kerry Ogden, 23, from Maghull, and driver Colin Daulby, 63, from Warrington, when their coach crashed in Surrey as they travelled back from Bestival in the Isle of Wight last year.

An inquest found the crash was caused by the blowout of a 19-year-old tyre.

In a letter to Ms Molloy, the Minister says his officials had undertaken a survey of 210 vehicles aged more than 10 years old and found 6% of tyres were more than 10 years old and 3% more than 15.

He said he was “not persuaded” that legislation to restrict the age of tyres was “appropriate at this stage”.

But he said he would be issuing advice on the use of old tyres through the Vehicle Operator and Services Agency (VOSA).

He also proposed commissioning further research on the issue.