A little letter i just knocked up to send off to the powers that be.
Dear Sir/ Madam.
On Sunday 6th December I was stopped and pulled over by a Police Officer in Uttoxeter. The officer proceeded to check over my car, including insurance, tax and MOT. My car had passed an MOT 11 days earlier on the 25th November, so the officer found no fault. However, to my surprise he gave me a fixed penalty notice due to wear on the inside of the front drivers side tyre, whilst he commented that the rest of the tyre had sufficient tread he said he had no option because “this edge had more wear, so it had made the grooves on that edge no longer visible”.
I was issued with a fixed penalty Notice for “Offence code 1509- Tyre grooves not visible” I signed the notice, took it and went on my way.
When I got home I explained the situation to my father, who raised a couple of concerns with me:
1) If the tyre was illegal due to being unsafe, should the officer not have asked for me to have had the vehicle recovered from the roadside or changed the tyre in question due to the fact it was unsafe, rather than let me drive home on it.
2) If the car passed an MOT 11 days earlier, how was the tyre now illegal and unsafe in such a short space of time, especially as I do so little miles?
So on the following morning, 7th December, I took the car to an MOT station and queried this with them. They checked the VOSA Handbook and proceeded to show me why my tyre was in fact legal and would pass an MOT. Section 4.1 of the VOSA MOT handbook relates specifically to tyres, and there is a section which covers the reason I was given a fixed penalty. It specifically states here:
“Reason for Rejection – 1) The grooves of the tread pattern are not at least 1.6mm throughout a continuous band compromising the central three-quarters of the breadth of tread and 2) round the entire circumference of the tyre.
Note: Each side of the central band of the tyre can be devoid of tread (i.e. ‘bald’) and still meet the pass standard.”
Therefore, as long as the central 75% of the tyre has at least 1.6mm of continuous tread the tyre would still be legal, even if the outer 12.5% on each side is devoid of tread or even “bald”. The MOT officer and I measured the offending tyre, and the part which was devoid of tread was well within the 12.5% and there was at least 1.6mm of tread throughout the rest of the tyre. So this is why the MOT station said my tyre should be classed as legal. I asked the MOT servicer for a copy of this sheet, which he was happy to give me, and I have included this for your attention.
As It is a legal requirement to have an MOT every 12months, I would believe it to be the case that all information provided on the MOT be legally correct.
Therefore as I have been assured by an independent MOT Officer that my tyre is legal, I contest the Fixed Penalty Notice issued to me and enclose photographic evidence to support my claim. I would be grateful if you would review the position, otherwise I have no option but to contest the case in court.
