British mother 'outraged' after government refuses tire change laws

ERJ staff report (TP)

Liverpool, UK − The mother of a Liverpool teenager killed in a coach crash said she is "outraged" after a Government minister refused to bring in laws restricting the use of older tires, reported Eleanor Barlow for The Liverpool Echo.

Frances Molloy and MP (Member of Parliament) Maria Eagle met with UK Transport Minister MP Patrick McLoughlin last month to call for an age limit of 10 years on tires.

Molloy’s son Michael, 18, died along with a 23-year-old man and an elderly driver, when their coach crashed in Surrey as they travelled back from the Isle of Wight last year.

An inquest found the crash was caused by the blowout of a 19-year-old tire.

Molloy said she received a response from McLoughlin yesterday (5 December).

In the letter he said his officials had undertaken a survey of 210 vehicles aged more than 10 years old and found 6 percent of tires were more than 10 years old and 3 percent more than 15.

He said he was "not persuaded" that legislation to restrict the age of tires was "appropriate at this stage", but did say he would be issuing advice on the use of old tires through the Vehicle Operator and Services Agency (VOSA). McLoughlin also proposed commissioning further research on the issue.

Molloy said: "This just isn't good enough and he clearly doesn't have the backbone to show some leadership here on a very serious issue.

"If there is another fatality then the Government have left themselves extremely vulnerable to litigation and I would be the first person to stand by any other person who loses a relative through an old tire on a PSV [Public Service Vehicle]."

She vowed not to give up in her campaign and said: "I'm afraid all he has done in this response is make me up my game [try harder]."

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Full story from The Liverpool Echo