Tires remain our first line of defence when driving on the road as our cars do not exactly have that direct contact with the road surface except through the tires. hence its therefore imperative to ensure that this all important component of our automobiles are constantly in great shape at all times.

Its no new that the Federal and state governments through several of their regulatory agencies have embarked on stringent measures to ensure that our road are safer by ensuring that motorist do not drive with expired tires, this they do by conspicuously stopping vehicles at random on the express or high ways to check for expired tires, once found erring such a vehicle is subsequently impounded and and the owner made to pay huge sum as fine depending on the agency responsible for the arrest ( Road safety or VIO)

This on its own remains a laudable move at least to curb the series of road accident on our roads due to bad tires but then the manner its been executed remains a facade to me. tires are meant to expire but then the expiry date shouldn't be the only cause to worry about. the condition and indeed the overall well being of the tire should also be taken into consideration( worn out tire with worn out treading). the fact that a tire is still within the stipulated age bracket doesn't mean it cannot constitute a great danger on the road sometimes these agencies purposely ignore commercial vehicles riding with seemingly won out tires only to go after private cars with obviously better looking tires hoping the expiry date on the tires might be way past. maybe the the top hierarchy heading these agencies need to re orientate its enforcement personnel as to doing the right thing.


Without digressing far the motive remains laudable but the execution remains a cause for worry. The Federal Road Safety Corps are indeed living up to the billing but some of its personnel need to understand that its not all bout the expiry date on the tires but rather the overall condition of the tires as a whole. corps marshal please take note.
http://www.automobileinfo.com.ng/

Expiry of tires is not and can never be a bookable offence. This is because there are several factors that accelerate or decelerate tire expiry which cannot be explicitly estimated. Sun, heat, moisture, pressure exposures are the leading factors while chemical composition of rubber additives used by different tire manufacturers account for others.

Personally, i can identify an expired tire but for law, it cannot be left at the discretion of a law officer.

tell them adanny01. tell them. Michelin said after five years, inspect. pirelli said same. I wonder why idiots who have never formulated a tire compound in their lives will impose an expiry date on a product they know nothing about. a tire can expire even after two years depending on so many factors yet some idiots will stop me on a pothole-tire smashing-unmarked highway to check my tires. we still have law courts; I dey wait for them.

9icetoo, It is true that Michelin says 5 years to inspect. Is the Michelin UK or Nigeria? Do they produce the same tyres for Nigeria and Uk? Do we really need all season tyres in Nigeria? Do we need winter tyres in Nigeria? Have you driven on a wintry road full of ice or snow? The four years is the right age for a tyre to last in our kind of weather. Do not say that Texas is hotter than Nigeria because they dont have a high incidence rate of burst tyres. I have inspected tyres from a popular car lot in Ikeja and the man claimed that all his cars comes from Texas and they all came with all season tyres with Temp B rating. This year, the FRSC will begin inspecting tyres not only for the expiry dates but for speed and temperature ratings. Imagine an S class fitted with T speed rating. That is suicide alert. Abi the recession mean say you nor go buy better tyre to save your life and property?

sooperrescue:
9icetoo, It is true that Michelin says 5 years to inspect. Is the Michelin UK or Nigeria? Do they produce the same tyres for Nigeria and Uk? Do we really need all season tyres in Nigeria? Do we need winter tyres in Nigeria? Have you driven on a wintry road full of ice or snow? The four years is the right age for a tyre to last in our kind of weather. Do not say that Texas is hotter than Nigeria because they dont have a high incidence rate of burst tyres. I have inspected tyres from a popular car lot in Ikeja and the man claimed that all his cars comes from Texas and they all came with all season tyres with Temp B rating. This year, the FRSC will begin inspecting tyres not only for the expiry dates but for speed and temperature ratings. Imagine an S class fitted with T speed rating. That is suicide alert. Abi the recession mean say you nor go buy better tyre to save your life and property?

I have driven on wintry roads with snow and ice. some of us have been out of this country you know.
having temperature b tyres coming from Texas does not makes the tires expired tires. the tires won't withstand higher speeds on hot surface. those tires are actually cheaper. I've also seen tires with a threadwear indicator of 250 and it was not a Chinese tire. I am talking of pirelli here.
I will say it again and anywhere and I will defend it, tires don't have expiry date. use and other factors determine the useful life of a tire.
all season tires give the best of both worlds in use but not in performance. an all season tire will not give you the grip a winter tire will give you on a snowy road.
an all season tire will not give you the same grip and performance as a dedicated summer tire.
I spent a year in Michelin Nigeria. their formulation is from France. the tires made in France and that made in Nigeria are the same for the same threadwear, speed and temperature rating. I was in testing. when a batch fails the test, it is either discarded or used to premix a batch of lower specification.
I am waiting for that FRSC dunce that will stop me to check for expiry date. kam Mara ma ana aru tire na be nna ya.

You are so so on point. i put up this thread on this forum and on my blog judging from my experience a couple weeks back. the point remains that tires should not be discarded based on their age and expiry date but rather on their overall condition. i put it to you that 80% of the commercial buses that ply our roads do so on expired and shabby looking tires but then these agencies blatantly ignore them to go after nice looking cars all in the name of generating revenue.
Let us do things the right way and stop making a mess of ourselves.
I have driven on wintry roads with snow and ice. some of us have been out of this country you know.
having temperature b tyres coming from Texas does not makes the tires expired tires. the tires won't withstand higher speeds on hot surface. those tires are actually cheaper. I've also seen tires with a threadwear indicator of 250 and it was not a Chinese tire. I am talking of pirelli here.
I will say it again and anywhere and I will defend it, tires don't have expiry date. use and other factors determine the useful life of a tire.
all season tires give the best of both worlds in use but not in performance. an all season tire will not give you the grip a winter tire will give you on a snowy road.
an all season tire will not give you the same grip and performance as a dedicated summer tire.
I spent a year in Michelin Nigeria. their formulation is from France. the tires made in France and that made in Nigeria are the same for the same threadwear, speed and temperature rating. I was in testing. when a batch fails the test, it is either discarded or used to premix a batch of lower specification.
I am waiting for that FRSC dunce that will stop me to check for expiry date. kam Mara ma ana aru tire na be nna ya.
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So what does michelin nigeria say about tyre expiry and since you know much about tyres, why are people still importing all season tyres knowing the implications on the hot weather? Why are you not doing much to disuade Nigerians from fitting those tyres on their vehicles. The Frsc needs ideas and so it wont be a bad idea if you are in the vanguard for safer roads based on your tyre experience. The michelin in Ijora that I once used to frequent had the worry of how to sell their tyres in their warehouse whose expiry date was already ticking and there is a name they call their head there who made these worries known and made me to visit their tyre fitting shop to find out if they are bringing in all season tyres into the country.