Tyres and the Law

UK law requires that your vehicle is fitted with the correct type and size of tyres for the vehicle type you are driving and for the purpose it is being used.

This means fitting the right tyres, and for safety ensuring that they are inflated to the manufacturer's recommended pressure.

The legal limit for minimum depth of the tread on your tyres is 1.6 millimetres, across the central ¾ of the tread going around the complete circumference of the tyre.

All tyres are constructed with tread wear indicators ( circled in the photo) Tread wear indicators show when the tyre has worn down to the legal limit.

For safety reasons it is recommended that you replace your tyres before the legal limit is reached.

Leading motoring organisations recommend 2mm and a regular check of your tyres can help you to avoid up to 3 penalty points and £1000 in fines (per tyre) for having tyres fitted to your vehicle that are worn beyond the legal minimum limit.

It is also a legal requirement to ensure that tyres of different construction types are not fitted to opposite sides of the same axle. The two main tyre types are radial and cross-ply, and these must not be mixed on the same axle.

Mixing brands and patterns of the same construction type is permissible depending on the vehicle type and manufacturers recommendation but most vehicle and tyre manufacturers recommend that same type and make of tyre across an axle as a minimum and ideally the same type and make of tyre fitted to all four wheels.

Telephone: 020 8656 9992

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