Following the unfortunate demise of the minister of state for labour and productivity, Mr James Ocholi, SAN his wife, son and driver yesterday in a road traffic accident as a result of a burst tyre, I consider it expedient to put up this piece to raise the consciousness of our populace to the issue of expired tyres and the risk thereof.

I called my driver yesterday and asked, "how many years does a tyre stay before it expires"?

He looked at me like an alien from Mars, an expression that seemed to ask in awe, "does a tyre ever expire"?

Yet he's been driving professionally for over 15 years!

Every tyre has an expiry date after which it is supposed to be replaced , lest it risks a blow-out!

The life span of a tyre from the date of manufacture is four years.

Now, how do you know the date a tyre was manufactured?

It is written on the tyre as four digits!

The first two digits represent the week, while the last two is the year of manufacture.

Please note that the four digits stand alone, not added to any alphabet. Some manufacturers place the asterics sign (*) before and after the four digits , while others simply encycle it.

So, 1612 means that the tyre was manufactured on the 16th week ( last week of April ) in the year 2012. The tyre will therefore expire on the 16th week of 2016.

You may therefore buy a "brand new" tyre which has since EXPIRED or just about to expire!

Some manufacturers however don't state the date of manufacture on their tyres, breaching the estacode thereof. This is common among the "Made in China" brands.

Buying a tyre devoid of manufacturing date is a kin to swallowing a pill without an expiry date. I think it's even worse, because the expired drug can only hurt you, while a burst tyre puts the life of ALL the occupants of the vehicle in jeopardy!

So now that you know, take the pain, bend down, check the date of manufacture of your tyre and do the needful.

6 years but YMMV.