Highways England has revealed a series of initiatives to help drive down the number of people killed and injured on the country’s motorways and major A roads.

Highways England focuses on tyre safety

Highways says that in 2016, tyre-related incidents along Britain’s roads led to 8 fatalities and 120 serious injuries.

Stuart Lovatt, Highways England’s Road Safety Lead, said: “Tyre failure is often due to incorrect inflation or worn treads. This can lead to everything from frustrating congestion caused by breakdowns to catastrophic collisions and tragic loss of life.

“A focus on tyre safety will be a key activity for us over the next few years with an emphasis on reaching out to particularly vulnerable road users.”

Other initiatives being refined or developed include:

• 2 pilot schemes in Lancashire and Yorkshire equipping fire fighters with mobile 3D scanners to give drivers accurate tread depth readings and safety advice at safety events
• Equipping Highways England’s own Traffic Officer Service with hundreds of manual tread gauges so they can help drivers make judgements about tyre health at public events.
• Investigating ways of quickly scanning vehicles, especially lorries, for other issues such as tyre tread depth, overheating brakes or axles which can cause lorries to break down suddenly, leading to congestion.
• Working with tyre firm Bridgestone to analyse the causes of tyre-related incidents and tyre damage – including promoting better tyre ‘husbandry’ among drivers and commercial fleet operators, with a focus on everything from regular tyre checks to debris-free depot maintenance.
• Developing a ground-breaking pilot initiative launched 2 years ago with tyre management technology company WheelRight Ltd, where drivers stopping at Keele Motorway Service Area were able to use a drive-through sensor station with an instant print-out facility to check the health of their tyres before heading back onto the motorway.

More information on the work of TyreSafe is available here: https://www.tyresafe.org