Campaigners warn of part-worn tyre dangers

Motoring campaign group TyreSafe is warning leisure vehicle users to be cautious when purchasing previously worn tyres for their caravan or towcar.

In a recent survey, Tyresafe randomly sampled 50 part-worn tyres and found that 98 per cent of these were being sold with an illegally low tread. Of all the sampled tyres, a third were in a dangerous condition.

The worst tyre sampled was found to have a 5cm metal object penetrating the tread, which could have led to the tyre spontaneously exploding and causing a major traffic accident.

According to UK law, all vehicles must have tyres that are inflated to the correct pressure with a minimum tread depth of 1.6mm. Any cuts exceeding 25mm or covering more than 10% of the section width of the tyre render it illegal, as does any cut that exposes the tyre’s ply or cord.

Although quality tyres will reduce the chances of suffering an accident whilst towing your caravan, it is still important to make sure you’re protected in the event that an incident does occur. Taking out a specialist touring caravan insurance or motorhome insurance policy will protect your vehicle not just while it is pitched, but also on the road.

To find out more about caravan insurance and motorhome insurance from Coast, call our UK based sales team on Freephone 0800 614 849 or visit our Quotation Page.