A brief look at the data published on the Ministry of Road Transport and
Highways website. In the year 2020, the total number of road accidents reported
was 3, 66,138, of which around 1, 31,714 people died. Road accidents can take
place due to several reasons. The government is continuously working to bring
down such incidents. Earlier the government had made the installation of
airbags mandatory, and the advice to increase the number of airbags to six was
also placed. Recently major changes were brought in the design of the tyres,
through an amendment in the Motor Vehicle Act by the central government.
What are the new
rules?
From the 1st of October, tyres of the new design will replace
the old ones in the market, Moreover, from April 1st, 2023 it will
be mandatory to place new tyres in the vehicles.
Ratings of tyres
under new rules:
As per the savings in Petrol and Diesel, the government is bringing the
system of ratings for the tyres. At present, the quality of tyres sold in India
undergoes the rule of BIS, the Bureau of Indian Standards system. But, through
this system, the customer doesn’t get this information while purchasing the
tyres, through which they can avail of the benefit.
How to
understand the rating system?
Whenever you are out to purchase any kind of electronic item you first
look for the ratings, which give you a fair idea about the product. These
ratings are provided by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, besides the year of
rating is also mentioned. Likewise, ratings for tyres will also be given, which
customers can see before buying. However, how the ratings will be provided is
yet to be disclosed.
Broadly there
are three categories of tyres:
C1- For
passenger cars
C2- Small
commercial vehicles
C3- Heavy
commercial vehicles
Now for all these three categories of tyres, new rules and parameters
will be implemented based on Automotive Indian Standard, AIS.
What is AIS,
Automotive Indian Standard?
The vehicles produced in India have to follow the guidelines and rules
laid down under Indian Standards and Automotive Indian Standards. AIS looks
after the production, design, maintenance and recovery of vehicles.
Before buying tyres keep these things in mind
At the time of buying tyres what one must keep in mind is the size. If
on the side of the tyres it is written (195/55 R 16 87 V) that means the width of
the tyre is 199mm. the expert ratio that is the height of the tyre is 55%. ‘R’
implies the tyre radial and the size of the tyre is 16 inches. Whereas, 87
means load indexing and ‘V’ implies the ratings of tyre speed. If you are going
to change your tyres then look for the standard size tyres made by the company.
This is designed based on the vehicle’s power, mileage and performance. Based
on the structure there are two categories of tyres in the market, tube and
tubeless. One must always prefer tubeless because it provides great safety over
tyres having tubes. Tubeless tyres can easily be repaired if punctured.