The tyre industry and a number of Government agencies are set to work more closely together to reduce the number of tyre related casualties which occur each year on the UK’s roads.

The move comes following a meeting hosted by the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTs) at the House of Commons last Wednesday (November 5) which was attended by a number of MP’s and Government agency representatives, including Department for Transport, Highways Agency and Transport for London.

"Coming immediately after the most successful Tyre Safety Month ever, this important meeting is set to help raise the profile of tyre safety to a new level," said Stuart Jackson, chairman of TyreSafe.

"It's clear that the tyre industry has a shared vision about how we can work collaboratively to help reduce road casualties further and with further support from Government, its agencies and other stakeholders, I’m confident we can continue to make a real difference.”

During the briefing, Jackson outlined evidence to support the argument that more work needs to be done to reduce tyre related casualties including data monitoring, education and enforcement.

Attendees also heard from Tyre Industry Federation secretary Graham Willson who outlined ways in which the tyre industry has delivered other successful collaborative projects.

Further evidence weight was provided by Stuart Lovatt, safety action plan co-ordinator for the Highways Agency and from Dave Etheridge, chair of the Chief Fire Officers Association.

Hosted by former road safety minister Jim Fitzpatrick MP, the meeting was brought to a conclusion with closing remarks from shadow roads minister Richard Burden MP.

"The briefing was a great success with some interesting debate, exchange of ideas and commitments of support,” added Jackson. “Many tyre retailers have pledged to help us gather data and develop a much more intelligent picture of tyre safety trends and actions. We look forward to reporting further on this in due course.”

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Author: Fleet News