Police checked tyres, Split from hijacked thread Options

[MrMod]

Hello

I had the exact same issue a few days ago where police pulled me over for speeding but could not prove that so ignored it and went over to look at my tyres

One of the the front tyres looked rather bad with cracks and low tread - since they were regular police offers and not traffic officers they could not test the tread so just took some photo's and said that they will create a report and I would get a letter through the post of the outcome.

However, the officer did mention that there is a chance the report does not fall through and I do not hear anything back?

Are the fines of £2,500 and 3 points true or is that a maximum penalty ?
What can I be prepared for exactly?
Any help would be appreciated!

Thank you

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[Ahelpinggand]

Likely a FPN £100 3 points

[The Rookie]

3 points is a dead cert, the £2500 is the maximum if it goes to court but vanishingly unlikely even if your case did go to court as the fine will have a starting point of 100% of your weekly take home pay less any discount for an early guilty plea.

[peodude]

3 points is a dead cert, the £2500 is the maximum if it goes to court but vanishingly unlikely even if your case did go to court as the fine will have a starting point of 100% of your weekly take home pay less any discount for an early guilty plea.

If you dispute that the tyre is illegal then you can take it to a tyre garage or MOT station, and if it is legal, get a report off them. You can then show this to the court. If it is illegal, then obvously you need to change it ASAP.

[The Rookie]

Indeed, can you share photos similar to what the Police would have so we can make some level of judgement. Unqualified cops are notorious for not having a clue!

[surfer91919]

I've often wondered where the buck stops with this.
I bought a tyre gauge from halfords and could see just by eye that the 1.6mm mark was actually reading more like 2+ mm. I measured it a bit more accurately and sure enough the gauge says the tyre is at 1.6mm when there is actually 2.1mm of tread. You have to hope the traffic cops have more accurate gauges than this! Tyre places routinely try to tell me the tyres is illegal when there's very noticeable treat left above the wear indicator blocks too.

[The Rookie]

Eh? I think you contradicted yourself there, can you make that clearer?

Most manufacturers put the warning blocks at 2mm so that if you're the sort of person who only changes when they show you'll still stay legal at over 1.6mm. Don't forget that 1.6mm is the EU limit, the same tyre goes worldwide.

As for 'tyre places' wanting you to change tyres before legally required, they of course have no incentive to do that do they - oh wait, of course they do!

This post has been edited by The Rookie: Wed, 19 May 2021 - 13:51

[Gerfc1]

You could share the photo with us so we can tell if the tyre is legal or not to make your mind at ease.

The gauge bought from Halfords is accurate as anywhere.

When you said your tyre is more than 2mm, that is legal. If you put one of your finger in the groove and move along until you can feel the warning block, that is legal.
If you can see the warning block is lower than the height of the tyre, that is legal.


The question with the crack, it is bit complicated so it is better to send the photo to us.

[666]

You could share the photo with us so we can tell if the tyre is legal or not to make your mind at ease.

The gauge bought from Halfords is accurate as anywhere.

When you said your tyre is more than 2mm, that is legal. If you put one of your finger in the groove and move along until you can feel the warning block, that is legal.
If you can see the warning block is lower than the height of the tyre, that is legal.


The question with the crack, it is bit complicated so it is better to send the photo to us.

It is legal only if the minimum tread extends around the whole circumference and across the central 75%.

[The Rookie]

Caution, the OP said nothing of the sort, this is a different poster talking of 2mm.

[surfer91919]

Eh? I think you contradicted yourself there, can you make that clearer?

Most manufacturers put the warning blocks at 2mm so that if you're the sort of person who only changes when they show you'll still stay legal at over 1.6mm. Don't forget that 1.6mm is the EU limit, the same tyre goes worldwide.

As for 'tyre places' wanting you to change tyres before legally required, they of course have no incentive to do that do they - oh wait, of course they do!

I can't see a contradiction?
I was just saying that the halfords tread depth indicator indicates that a tyre has 1.6mm of tread left when there is actually 2.1mm remaining. I checked this with a digital Vernier caliper. As I said the hope the police one is better calibrated than this!

[BluntyMcCrow2]

Eh? I think you contradicted yourself there, can you make that clearer?

Most manufacturers put the warning blocks at 2mm so that if you're the sort of person who only changes when they show you'll still stay legal at over 1.6mm. Don't forget that 1.6mm is the EU limit, the same tyre goes worldwide.

As for 'tyre places' wanting you to change tyres before legally required, they of course have no incentive to do that do they - oh wait, of course they do!

I can't see a contradiction?
I was just saying that the halfords tread depth indicator indicates that a tyre has 1.6mm of tread left when there is actually 2.1mm remaining. I checked this with a digital Vernier caliper. As I said the hope the police one is better calibrated than this!

To my knowledge no such device is issued to any force nor is any make/ model of device recommended or specified. You may have this misfortune to happen upon a PG9 trained officer who might have equipment comparable to what an MOT tester might use.

And I wouldn’t rely on anything “Halfords” branded to be reliable, and certainly would return it if there is a .5mm difference.

[The Rookie]

I was just saying that the halfords tread depth indicator indicates that a tyre has 1.6mm of tread left when there is actually 2.1mm remaining. I checked this with a digital Vernier caliper. As I said the hope the police one is better calibrated than this!

I bought a tyre gauge from halfords and could see just by eye that the 1.6mm mark was actually reading more like 2+ mm. I measured it a bit more accurately and sure enough the gauge says the tyre is at 1.6mm when there is actually 2.1mm of tread.

If the 1.6 was reading 2+mm, then how later can the gauge say it's 1.6mm when it's 2.1mm? You've just reversed the error.

This post has been edited by The Rookie: Tue, 21 Sep 2021 - 14:56

[roythebus]

Maybe there was a problem with a cut in the sidewall? Tread damage somewhere? bulge in sidewall?