March/April Issue 60 - Flipbook - Page 12
NEWS
TYRES OVER 10 YEARS OLD WILL BE BANNED
ON HEAVY VEHICLES
Earlier this year, the government
announced that tyres aged 10 years
and older will be banned on the front
axles of lorries, buses and coaches.
You can read the full story in the
Department for Transport’s news
article.
DVSA already checks for tyres aged
10 years and older during roadside
enforcement stops. This change
in the law will allow us to issue
prohibitions if these tyres are found at
annual test and enforcement checks.
What is changing?
From February 2021, it will become
illegal to fit tyres aged 10 years or
older to:
What this means for these
vehicles at annual test
Tyres that are aged 10 years and
older will become a failure item at
annual test.
If these tyres do not display a date
code, they will also fail.
As part of the annual test, our
Vehicle Standards Assessors
(VSAs) will check that each tyre
displays a date of manufacture or
re-treading.
What this means for our
enforcement checks
Once the rules change, if our
roadside enforcement teams find
a tyre aged 10 years or older
- the front axle of a goods vehicle with fitted to the front axle of a relevant
a maximum gross weight exceeding vehicle, they will issue an ‘S’ mark
3,500 kg
prohibition and conduct a follow up
investigation.
- the front axle of a bus or coach including minibuses
What happens next?
- the rear axle of a minibus with single We will publish updates to the guide
rear wheels fitted
to maintaining roadworthiness,
12
categorisation of defects and MOT
inspection manual before the new
legislation comes into force.
In the lead up to the ban, VSAs will
start to identify tyres aged 10 years
or older on HGVs, alongside their
existing checks on PSVs.
They’ll share this information with
vehicle presenters and drivers to help
raise awareness of the new rules.
We will update you with more
information ahead of the change in
the law being introduced.
This new rule will help improve road
safety and follows work undertaken
by government and the determined
efforts of campaigners.
