Updated guidance: tyres over 10 years old & updated Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness
In December, we told you that tyres aged over 10 years will be banned on the front axles of lorries, buses, coaches and all single wheels of minibuses (9 to 16 passenger seats).
The law comes into effect on 1 February 2021.
Updating our guidance
To help vehicle operators and those who work with them, we’ve published updated versions of the:
You can read Section 8 of the updated documents to find out how the procedures and standards on the condition of tyres will change from 1 February 2021.
The manuals also give guidance on tyre age markings and set out the deficiency categories for these items at annual test.
A change table listing all the changes in the manuals is also available to view.
We’ve also published an updated version of the
Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness.
The existing publications are still online and in use until 1 February 2021.
Using old tyres on historic vehicles
The new regulations exempt non-commercial vehicles aged 40 years and older from these requirements.
Revised guidance on categorisation of defects
Our revised guidance on how we categorise vehicle defects in roadside checks has also been published today.
This guide outlines the actions we take when roadworthiness defects are found during vehicle inspections.
The changed rules will be enforced from 1 February 2021.
What’s changed
The banning of tyres aged over 10 years on the front axles of lorries, buses, coaches and all single wheels of minibuses (9 to 16 passenger seats) from 1 February 2021 is covered in the revisions.
Additional notes on dash mounted tables, laptops, tablets and mobile phones have been added to issues affecting the view of the road, along with other updates on brakes, suspension and lamps.
The revision record (Appendix A of the categorisation of defects) has also been updated, which identifies all the changes in this guide.
Read the revised categorisation of defects document.
