Law aims to provide safer tyres
Environmentalists say regulations could have health benefits
Manufacturers are to start producing quieter, safer and more fuel-efficient tyres under new European laws.
The regulations, to be introduced in 2012, have been welcomed by tyre makers but environmentalists argue they should be brought in sooner.
Michelin says the time is needed to carry out research as tyre design is a "highly complex" process.
The European Parliament voted on the rules to make car, van and lorry tyres up to 50% less noisy.
Further regulations are being considered for tyre labelling, which would give consumers a clearer idea about the road-grip, fuel-efficiency and noise levels of various companies' products.
Groove patterns
Until now, there have been few regulations governing the industry but from 2012 manufacturers will have to meet new standards of safety, noise reduction and efficiency.
Bob Wilcox, Michelin's director of development in the UK, said most people assume a tyre is just a bit of rubber round the wheel when it is, in fact, a "highly complex piece of engineering".
"Tyres are made of many different components and with many different groove patterns," he says.
He said the company welcomed the new regulations, but accepted there were challenges and time was needed for research.
Research done in London found a real link between traffic noise and the risk of a heart attack
Mary Stevens, Environmental Protection UK
For example, changing the grooves on a tyre to make it grip better could also make it noisier, so a balance needed to be struck while ensuring tyres met the new requirements, he added.
Anti-noise campaigners have welcomed the move but question why it needs to take so long for the regulations to be come into full effect.
Mary Stevens, from Environmental Protection UK, says they could lead to a reduction in tyre noise equivalent to taking half the nation's cars off the road.
She added that two pieces of medical research had linked traffic noise to health problems.
"Research done in London found a real link between traffic noise and the risk of a heart attack, and some more research done in Sweden came out recently which again reinforced there is a link between cardiac health effects and traffic noise," she said.
She added that she was hopeful drivers would take note of the new regulations and fleet operators might look at their tyres standards before they come into force.
BBC environment correspondent Sarah Mukherjee said: "When most people go to the garage for a new set of tyres, the main factor is the price. And yet, tyre manufacturers say, our lives depend on them.
"They point out that tyres are the only part of the car to make contact with the road, and at any one time an area of tyre no bigger than your palm is in contact on each tyre.
"It may well be that in the future, we are as well informed about our tyres as we are about our fridges, TVs, and indeed, our cars themselves."
link to article from bbc website
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7936534.stm
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