Winter warning for drivers

Those were the results of research undertaken by the RAC Foundation in the run up to the launch of the Tyre Industry Council’s Tyre Safety Campaign.

Welcoming the campaign, Kevin Delaney, RAC Foundation’s Head of Traffic and Road Safety commented: “Tyres can play a significant and sometimes even lethal part in road traffic collisions. Their condition can, in some circumstances, mean the difference in life and death of a driver and his passengers.”

The amount of tyre in contact with the road at any time is no greater than a human footprint.

Tyres which are worn below 2mm are less likely to be able to maintain contact with a wet road surface and are more likely to aquaplane in heavy rain.

At 1.6mm of tread, a tyre is much more likely to puncture as pieces of broken glass, nails, tacks or other debris come into contact with it.

Other tyre facts include:

* There may be as many as 6 million illegal tyres (less than 1.6mm depth) on Britain’s cars.

* As many as one in four motorists interviewed by the Foundation admitted that they may have a defective tyre as a spare.

* The most likely reasons for not checking tyre tread depth were people didn’t know what the minimum was, they didn’t have anything to check it with or didn’t know how, or they leave it until the car goes in for a service.

* Tyres are an essential part of a vehicle’s suspension, absorbing road shock. Worn sidewalls can badly affect road holding and are more likely to ‘blow out’, causing a sudden loss of control.

* Excessively high or low pressures, or pressures which vary widely between tyres on the same axle, can also badly affect road holding.

Meanwhile, the Northern Divisional Roads Manager, Deidre Mackle, has warned motorists to take extra care while driving, as winter approaches.

The Divisional Roads Manager was speaking as she announced the start of Roads Service’s annual Winter Service operation. Ms Mackle said: “Every night from now until the middle of next April, we will have over 93 personnel on standby to salt main roads, helping drivers to cope with wintry conditions. Salt barns are stocked to maximum capacity in Northern Division which encompasses the Londonderry, LImavady, Antrim, Ballymena, Larne, Ballymoney, Moyle, Coleraine areas.”

But she warned that even with the most careful and thorough planning, the use of special Met Office forecasts and the latest ice prediction technology, Winter Service is really a battle against the elements and ice-free roads cannot be guaranteed. She said: “Motorists have to play their part by taking extra care during wintry conditions. The best advice is in the Highway Code – drive with care be prepared for road conditions changing over short distances and take care when overtaking gritters.”

Roads Service uses the latest technology to help it make informed decisions about salting operations. This includes ice sensors linked to 21 weather stations and thermal mapping of all roads on the network.

The Met Office uses information from these stations along with their own data to provide forecasts which are transmitted to engineers’ computers.

Roads Service also tries to ensure that motorists are kept fully up to date with road conditions.. Information on salting activities is relayed electronically to the media to ensure the latest news on road conditions is available to motorists.

During periods of prolonged snow all gritters will be fitted with snow ploughs and Roads Service will spread salt at up to three times the normal rate. But clearing snow is much more difficult than dealing with frost, because of the large volume of frozen material.

Roads Service advises the public to prepare for the annual winter battle with the elements and that commercial property owners in particular, should consider their own arrangements to stock salt, to avoid being caught unprepared.