Continuing their association towards the cause of Tyre Safety, Tyre Industry represented by Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA) and Honda Cars India have joined hands to spread awareness on the hazards of worn out tyres and the need to check Tread Wear Indicators (TWI). TWI are present in tyres as a visual indicator of the degree of tyre tread wear. Indian Tyre Technical Advisory Committee (ITTAC), the technical arm of ATMA is driving the initiative.
“Usage of worn out tyres on Indian highways has emerged as a safety hazard. TWI is an easy to understand feature designed to help motorists replace tyres well within time and preempt accidents”, said Mr V K Misra, Chairman ITTAC.
New tyres have a tread depth of 8mm. Tread Wear Indicators (TWI) are the projections within the tread grooves with a depth of 1.6 mm, the legal minimum tread depth. Tyres need to be replaced when the tread is worn to the level of TWI. There are marks on the shoulder region of tyres which point to the location of TWIs.
Motorists are largely unaware of the degree of wear of the tyre tread. Worn out tyres require longer distance to stop which could lead to accidents.
“In collaboration with Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH), ATMA and ITTAC are raising awareness about TWIs so that mishaps due to worn-out tyres could be minimized. With Honda joining hands in the initiative, the drive will gather further momentum”, said Mr Rajiv Budhraja, Director General ATMA.
As a first step, Honda has positioned large posters creating awareness on TWI at their corporate office and manufacturing unit at Greater Noida for the benefit of all the employees.
The posters depicting TWI and its usage were released by Mr. Anil Srivastava, former head of mobility vertical, NITI Aayog at ATMA Partners’ Summit 2019.