Tiresome problem
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POLICE have no tool recognized by the DoE for measuring the tread depth of a tyre. The problem was highlighted recently in a court case at Hove, involving a 4ton tipper lorry owned by John Stacey. and Sons Ltd, Tadley.
Mr Lynton Shaw-Davies, technical adviser to Michelin Tyre Co, attended the court hearing to give a report on the tyre's condition. Having measured the tyre's tread depth, with an engineer's depth guage, he found only two places where the tread was less than one millimetre, making the tyre legal. The instrument, a product of Raybone Chesterrnan, contains a probe which must be lowered from the main instrument body to measure tread depth. The amount of tread is then read off a scale on the tool.
The case was dismissed on the grounds that evidence given by the police was "nonscientific".