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Clear up tyre regs says ETA
Page 5
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A DEMAND that the Department of the Environment clear up confusion over the new tyre mixing regulations has been made by the Freight Transport Association.
Large numbers of calls for advice on how "out of the ordinary" axle combinations should apply the regulations have been received, said an PTA spokesman.
"But the law is not clear on these problem cases and so we have put forward a massive list of combinations to the DoE for clarification."
At least one case, and perhaps the most important of them all, has now been settled. It is that artic tractive units and trailers are to be regarded as two separate vehicles for the purposes of the tyre regulations.
Difficulty arose after the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 1976 SI 317 came into force on March 31. Regulation 13 extended the special requirements regarding the mixing of tyres to all vehicles including heavy goods vehicles. Previously they applied only to vehicles up to 30cwt unladen.
These requirements are contained in Regulation 100 of the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1973 and provide that tyres on the same axle must be of the same size and type—either radial or cross-ply. Diagonal ply or biasbelted tyres must not be fitted on the rear wheels if radial ply are fitted to the front wheels. Nor may diagonal-ply tyres be used on the rear wheels and bias-belted tyres on the front.
Problems have arisen when articulated tractive units with one combination of tyre types came to be coupled to a trailer with a different combination of types. The DoE ruling, communicated to CM this week, should resolve those difficulties.