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NEWS EXTRA
CCTV Footage Reveals Tyre Failure Highway Horrors
New Nokian CT BAS Tyre for Heavy Trailers
The shocking consequences and high cost of tyre failures have been revealed in a series of new CCTV clips unveiled by the Highways Agency and TyreSafe as part of October's tyre safety month. In the most dramatic clip, which can be found on the Highways Agency's YouTube channel motorway cameras capture the moment a tyre fails on the front of an HGV, sending it uncontrollably into the central reservation causing chaos and extensive damage.
"Many people incorrectly assume that if their tyre fails, they'll simply pull onto safety of the hard shoulder," explains Stuart Jackson, chairman, TyreSafe. "However, as this startling clip shows, when a tyre fails, the results can be dramatic, beyond control and incredibly frightening. The clips
However, despite the numerous incidents TyreSafe is advising that many problems can be easily avoided by regular tyre checks. As well as checking that tyres are inflated to the correct pressure at least once a month, tread depths should also be checked to ensure they meet the legal minimum standards and tyres should be inspected for any cuts, lumps or bulges in the sidewall.
While TyreSafe has developed a suite of online materials to help drivers carr y out these inspections, thousands of tyre dealers across the UK are offering free tyre safety checks as part of October's tyre safety month. Drivers can find the location of their nearest participating outlet by entering their postcode into the locator facility. Highways Agency Traffic
Nokian announced the introduction of a new trailer tyre at the recent Agritechnica agricultural show aimed specifically at use on construction sites.
The new Nokian CT BAS tyre is the company’s latest solution for heavy trailers, offering load bearing capability and stability for construction sites together with reliability and predictability which the company says is highly appreciated by contractors.
Rough environment poses
considerable challenges for the tyre construction and tread structure of heavy trailers. Bits of steel, nails and sharp rocks can cause unexpected delays. The Nokian CT BAS, however, incorporates top end technology in terms of puncture resistance, which was developed for the forestry tyres. The tyre also features new BAS-technology developed by Nokian Heavy Tyres. This enables the usage of higher pressure levels in the tyre.
Tructyre Relocate Warehouse and Distribution Centre
Tructyre Fleet Management Ltd have relocated their warehouse and distribution to a new centre based in Eastleigh Southampton.
The originally Winchester based hub has been out grown over the past 18 years, even with modifications during this time to assist in the business growth. Therefore the decision was made to relocate its warehousing to Eastleigh to a larger site with a 15,000 sq ft warehouse and offices.
The new warehouse has new racking capable of storing up to 5,000 commercial tyres using articulated forklifts specially adapted for lifting tyres up as high as 9 meters for storage in narrow isles. The investment will and has already seen an improvement in the working environment as well as allowing us to store more comprehensive levels of stock. Senior Operations Executive Scott Matthews who also project managed the relocation said “the decision to relocate was thought through hard and discussed between the management team and Managing Director Glenn Sherwood but was essential to support with the
company growth. The complete working environment has improved and operationally we have already seen better efficiencies in our daily activities. I would also like to thank our staff and teams for the efforts and cooperation during the move and also to all our suppliers involved with getting the new warehouse ready in the allotted timescales.”
really do emphasise why it's important to check your tyres regularly." As well as showing the dangers to drivers of a tyre failure, another clip shows how Highways Agency officers have to close all three lanes of a motorway to retrieve debris from another tyre failure. The final CCTV clip highlights the financial cost of a tyre failure after a truck catches fire following a tyre failure, leading to a full motorway closure for many hours at a cost of several million pounds.
Tyre related problems are a major cause for concern on the UK's roads. More than 15,000 breakdowns per year on English motorways are tyre related and the Highways Agency's incident logs show that between April and June 2013, 3,852 breakdowns on its network were tyre related, with almost 30 per cent of these having an impact on live traffic lanes.
Management Director, Simon Sheldon-Wilson says, "By taking a few minutes to check your tyres, you could save yourself the distress, cost and possibly ver y serious consequences of having a tyre blow- out at high speed. A tyre failure can happen suddenly in fast-moving traffic, putting everyone at increased risk.
"Tyre debris in live lanes can cause danger for others, and our staff have to stop traffic and cross the carriageway to retrieve it."
For more information about tyre safety visit www.tyresafe.org or to see the Highways Agency's CCTV clips, visit its YouTube Channel. - See more at: http://www.tyresafe.org/media- centre/latest-news/545-cctv-footage- reveals-tyre-failure-highway- horrors#sthash.bJEyusgN.dpuf
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