My mother in law has a 1999 Honda CR-V. Several weeks ago I noticed that the tyres on the front had loads of very fine hair line cracks that usually appear when a tyre is a several years old. Before my mother-in law bought the vehicle it had been sitting for a while hence the ageing of the tyres before the tread wore out.

I looked at the tyres the other day and now the outer quarter of the tread is down to the ‘worry-lines’ – which indicate that the tread is down to 1.6mm.

The reason that this is an issue for me is because that every couple of weeks my pregnant wife and my two children go with my mother-in law on a shopping trip that involves around 50 miles of motorway driving.

I have told her that she needs to get the tyres changed because even though most of her driving is on roads where she usually drives around 40-50 miles an hour the fact that she intends to use the vehicle on a motorway will put much more strain on the tyres which are frankly showing their age.

Ultimately she expects me to allow my wife and kids to go in the vehicle but because I am concerned about the condition of the tyres I have told my wife that I will not allow the kids to go on their next shopping trip this forthcoming Saturday.

I am not being overly cautious here. If those tyres were on my car I would have changed them weeks ago so I am not asking the mother-in law to do something I wouldn’t do myself.

If one of those front tyres blew out on a motorway I would expect a Honda CR-V to roll over

So what I am asking you good people of Scoobynet, do you think I am right to insist that my mother-in law get the tyres changed due to the fact the tyres are aged and hairline cracked? As I said, if they were going somewhere at lower speeds I might be more easy going but they are intending to drive roughly 25 miles along the motorway and 25 miles back with my children in the car.

The cost of tyres isn’t an issue.

Any thoughts or opinions any of you have to offer will be welcome.

 

Yes, you're in the right. You should ask her how she'd explain it away if she was pulled over by a police officer.

Pretty sure an officer would have the same viewpoint as you, but have the added advantage of being able to restrict her vehicle from travelling further on the road until she corrected the issue.

 

Yes, you're right to stand firm. You should ask what her response would be to a police officer who stopped her and asked her the same questions.

Pretty sure an officer would maintain the same stance as you, but have the added benefit of being able to forbid her from continuing the journey in the car until she resolved it. They can also make the car's MOT certificate null and void if they deem it necessary.

 

Do you check the tyres on every taxi, bus, or any other vehicle you get in?

For sure point it out, tell her you think they're unsafe and that as she's driving your wife and kids around she should do something but I wouldn't lose any sleep over it....

 

hmm, maybe a mysterious couple of punctures will get her to change them...

 

I think you are totally right to be concerned.

You may want to remind her it is illegal to have worn or damaged tyres.

Its a Ł2500 fine and 3 points for EACH unsafe tyre.

Her insurers will play up as its a unroadworthy vehicle and IF she is in serious accident the police will throw the book at her (ever notice the first things plod do at an accident? Yup: breath tests and check tyres/tax/insuarance ).

With regards to cracks in the rubber, so long as you can't see the cord or metal bands its technically legal: But even so the rubber has degraded and wet weather grip will be greatly diminished.

Tyres don't have to be old to perish...I've seen tyres that are just shy of 2 years old cracked down to the cords...cheapy naff chinese made tyres in most of the cases.

However to put your mind at rest, its amazing the abuse tyres wil sustain before blowing out. In pretty much every case I've seen a blown-out tyre, its becuase it been run with too little air. Or its hit something big and hard (curb, pothole etc). Still no excuse IMO.

 

I think you are totally right to be concerned.

You may want to remind her it is illegal to have worn or damaged tyres.

Its a Ł2500 fine and 3 points for EACH unsafe tyre.

Her insurers will play up as its a unroadworthy vehicle and IF she is in serious accident the police will throw the book at her (ever notice the first things plod do at an accident? Yup: breath tests and check tyres/tax/insuarance ).

With regards to cracks in the rubber, so long as you can't see the cord or metal bands its technically legal: But even so the rubber has degraded and wet weather grip will be greatly diminished.

Tyres don't have to be old to perish...I've seen tyres that are just shy of 2 years old cracked down to the cords...cheapy naff chinese made tyres in most of the cases.

However to put your mind at rest, its amazing the abuse tyres wil sustain before blowing out. In pretty much every case I've seen a blown-out tyre, its becuase it been run with too little air. Or its hit something big and hard (curb, pothole etc). Still no excuse IMO.

 

thanks for the input guys.

I am pleased to see you agree with me.
its common sense to us but we are talking about my mother in law here who... lacks it.

 

Tyres have a 5 year shelf life. Anything over this and they SHOULD be replaced but it doesn't make them illegal.
To find out when they were manufactured have a look on the sidewall. They will be a 4digit number in an oval type box. The first 2 digits are the week of the year, the second 2 digits are the year.
Eg. 2305 is the 23rd week of 2005. 1311 is the 13th week of 2011.
HTH

Paul.

 

About six years ago I was given 6 points and had the MOT on my car (not the Impreza) rendered null and void by a member of the Margate constabulary at the Dartford Crossing (I never did find out why he was patrolling there): two of the tyres had 1.55mm tread left on the outer quarter of the contact patch.

Incredibly picky but, as the officer told me, "rules is rules".

If they want to make an example of you, they will do so. Best not to take the chance in the first place.

 

They must have been incredibly low - this was an MOT pass (with advisory).

 

For MOT the centre three quarters of the tyre need to be 1.6mm minimum and no cords showing.

So you can have the outer 25% of the tyre bald, and it is acceptable...so long as no cord shows through

 

Worry lines = 2mm which is the minimum tread depth in some European countries.

 

Duly noted. many thanks.

 

I didn't know that. I can pretty much guarantee that the tyres on the CR-V are that old because prior to the MIL buying it it had been sitting for a number of years. the former owner has seeveral vehicles to choose from so the CR-V only saw limited use.

 

As I tried protesting to the officer who stopped me; but he was having none of it. In his view, as he said, he found tread below the limit and therefore deemed it unsafe.

Bit of a lottery when being stopped by the force; depends which officer it is, whether the weather's nice, what day it is, whether they got out of bed the wrong side that morning, etc. You take your chances, I guess - just the same as the OP's point. The tyres probably would be ok, but you don't know when you'll get caught out.

But then, this is coming from someone who doesn't have much luck with the law - I was once stopped and breathalysed for driving within the speed limit. Probably best not to listen to me after all

 

I eventually got I.M to replace all four tyres in my hatch STI because the rubber had begun to crack.
They were Dunlop SPSport 600