This Safety Alert is to draw attention to the dangers of providing passenger services with bald tyres and to remind vehicle owners that they have safety obligations under the law to ensure vehicles are safe to be driven on the road and appropriately maintained. Service providers must also ensure that this safety standard is met, and drivers must not provide passenger services in an unsafe vehicle.
Background
During a routine on street compliance check, Authorised Officers from the Commission noticed a car with bald tyres providing a passenger service. The driver was directed to stop driving the vehicle immediately. The vehicle was not roadworthy and could not be used to provide passenger services. The vehicle could not be used again until new tyres had been fitted and a safety check completed by an Authorised Inspection Station.
The danger
DO NOT DRIVE A VEHICLE WITH BALD TYRES.
It is illegal to drive on bald tyres as they make the vehicle unsafe. Bald tyres lose their ability to traction leading to less control, the vehicle’s stopping distance increases and bald tyres are more likely to blow out. In wet weather, vehicles with bald tyres cannot stop as quickly, and the vehicle can easily run out of control. The consequences of all these cases can be fatal.
Technical requirements of tyre tread
Tyre tread must be at least 1.5 millimetres deep right across the tyre where it is touching the road.
It is a condition of authorisation that taxis and hire vehicles (including rideshare) are maintained according to the law and the Commissioner takes breaches of this safety standard seriously.
Responsibilities
It is illegal to drive a car with bald tyres. The service provider, the licence holder, the vehicle owner and any affiliated providers or facilitators are all responsible for the maintenance of the car – which includes the tyres.
Drivers must perform a pre-departure check every time they drive a vehicle. This check must include checking the tread on the tyres.
Service providers must have effective procedures in place to ensure drivers are doing these pre-departure checks.
Vehicle owners are reminded that regular tyre replacement must be part of their preventative maintenance schedule.
IT IS AN OFFENCE TO DRIVE A VEHICLE WITH BALD TYRES.
Penalties
Providing a passenger service in a vehicle that has bald tyres constitutes a breach of the vehicle standard under the Point to Point Transport (Taxis and Hire Vehicles) Regulation 2017.
Resources
More information on vehicle registration standards and obligations can be found on the
Point to Point Transport Commissioner’s website:
