Feb 17, 2025 Product Testing Institute, PTI, Alex Erdman, new tyre standards, reduce road fatalities,
Product Testing Institute - new tyre standards can reduce road fatalities
Tyre safety can be improved, road fatalities significantly reduced, waste tyre pollution lessened, and the local tyre industry expanded, if the Department of Transport adopts key international tyre safety standards. The Product Testing Institute (PTI) has written to the Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy, urging the Department of Transport to adopt these standards.
The letter highlights the terrible statistic that tyre failures cause two deaths per day, or over 700 per year in South Africa. Apart from the tragic human cost, these accidents are also costing the economy approximately R19 billion annually. Waste tyre pollution also causes toxic pollution on a disastrous scale, with SA discarding just over 250 000 tonnes a year. "Implementing compulsory local standards for retreading and rolling resistance is urgently needed," explained Alex Erdman, Laboratory Manager at the PTI.
Safely retreading tyres is a cost-effective way to lengthen a tyre's lifespan that also reduces the amount of waste tyres produced. Quality tires are designed to be retreaded multiple times, maximizing the initial investment. However, the adoption of international standards on retread safety testing (UN ECE 108 and UN ECE 109) is needed to ensure safety is not compromised. With a robust and well-regulated retreading industry, consumers can have access to high-quality retreaded tires at competitive prices, reducing the need for lower-quality imports.
Correctly testing and verifying rolling resistance is both a cost-saving and an environmental priority. Tyres with higher rolling resistance require more energy to move, significantly contributing to the use of fuel and increasing emissions. Adopting the international standard on rolling resistance (UN ECE R117) will deliver lower fuel costs and reduced emissions.
South Africa has, like the majority of countries, adopted international standards for new passenger and truck tyres, but has been held back from adopting these other standards by the lack of a local testing facility. "Until recently there has been no independent testing facility in South Africa, or indeed in Africa, capable of testing tyres to these needed retreading and rolling resistance standards," Erdmann pointed out. In December 2024, however, the Product Testing Institute (PTI) in Coega, Gqeberha received formal accreditation under the South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) as a tyre testing facility. This was a first for South Africa and the African continent.
Prior to the PTI the National Regulator of Compulsory Standards either had to rely on accepting test results from overseas facilities, or tyre samples had to be sent to foreign testing facilities at high costs and with long turnarounds. Now, local testing can be done efficiently, improving safety and sustainability, while stimulating local industry.
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