Stop purchasing “Tokunbo tyres”, FRSC warns motorists

The Public Enlightenment Officer of the Federal Road Safety Commission
(FRSC), Cross River Command, Mr Esu Ikpi, has warned motorists against the
use of fairly used tyres on the highways to avoid road crashes.

Ikpi told newsmen today in Calabar, that fairly used tyres had been found
to be responsible for majority of road crashes on the highways.
“ It is highly dangerous to use fairly used tyres on the highways, they are not
durable and cannot withstand pressure,’’ he said.

According to him, many of the road crashes are as a result of burst
tyres unlike new tires that are safer and more durable.
Ikpi said that tyres were manufactured with chemicals that expire after a period
of time and when it expires, it’s prone to being punctured easily by sharp
objects on the road.
He also said expired tyres explodes easily due to the heat on the road as the
vehicle is on motion, adding that this had been a major cause of road crashes
across the country.
“Fairly used tyres are cheaper, but you cannot use them for more than six
months without them being expired and worn out, new tyres may be more
expensive but are safer, safety must never be compromised
“Tyres get worn out and expired based on certain criteria such as, covering a
distance of 80,000 kilometres, poor wheel balancing and alignment and
others,’’Ikpi added.
The officer advised motorists to always ensure that they observe properly the
date of manufacturing when purchasing any tyre for their vehicle.
“To avoid buying expired tyres, a motorist should check for the manufacturing
date, it is a four digit number written and circled by the side of the tyre.
“The first two digit represents the week of manufacture, while the last two
digits represents the year of manufacture.

“So, when you add three years to the year the tyre was manufactured, you
would know the expiry date of the tyre,’’ he said.
He, however, advised motorists to check the air pressure in their tyres
whenever they went to a vulcaniser, adding that over inflating exposes the
side walls of the tyre to be worn out, while under inflating it, would gradually
destroys the middle wall of the tire.
“We hope to continue to educate our motorist on the dangers of using bad
tyres on our roads, as it was one of the major cause of crashes,’’he said.