31 January 2021

Ban on old tyres comes into force following mother’s campaign

31 January 2021

A law banning old tyres from lorries, buses and coaches will come into force on Monday following a campaign by the mother of a teenager killed in a crash.

Frances Molloy has been calling for a change in the law since the death of her son, Michael, 18, in a coach crash as he travelled home to Liverpool from Bestival on the Isle of Wight in 2012.

An inquest into the crash, which also killed 23-year-old Kerry Ogden and coach driver Colin Daulby, 53, found it was caused by a tyre that was nearly 20 years old.

Tyred campaign (PA Media)

From February 1, Construction and Use Regulations will not allow tyres which are more than 10 years old to be used on the front steered axles of lorries, buses, coaches or for all single wheels fitted to a minibus.

Mrs Molloy told BBC Breakfast she felt a “sense of relief” after campaigning for eight years and having the legislation rejected by Parliament eight times.

She said: “For me to give up would have felt like I was giving up on Michael because this is the only tiny bit of justice I’m ever going to get for him.”

The change in law was announced by Roads Minister Baroness Vere last July.

Speaking at the time, she said: “This change is in no small way the result of years of campaigning, particularly from Frances Molloy, to whom I thank and pay tribute.”

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