Tyres more than 10 years old will be banned on heavy vehicles

From February 2021, it will become illegal to fit tyres aged 10 years or older to heavy vehicles.

This applies to:

• The front axle of a goods vehicle with a maximum gross weight exceeding 3,500 kg
• The front axle of a bus or coach – including minibuses
• The rear axle of a minibus with single rear wheels fitted

Tyres that are aged 10 years and older will become a failure item at annual test. If these tyres do not display a date code, they will also fail. As part of the annual test, Vehicle Standards Assessors (VSAs) will check that each tyre displays a date of manufacture or re-treading.

Once the rules change, if roadside enforcement teams find a tyre aged 10 years or older fitted to the front axle of a relevant vehicle, they will issue an ‘S’ mark prohibition and conduct a follow up investigation.

DVSA will publish updates to the guide to maintaining roadworthiness, categorisation of defects and MOT inspection manual before the new legislation comes into force.

In the lead up to the ban, VSAs will start to identify tyres aged 10 years or older on HGVs, alongside their existing checks on PSVs. They’ll share this information with vehicle presenters and drivers to help raise awareness of the new rules.

This new rule will help improve road safety and follows work undertaken by government and the determined efforts of campaigners.