Honda Cars India will work alongside Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA), a representative body of Indian tyre makers, to raise awareness on the potential hazards caused by worn out tyres and increase people's understanding of Tread Wear Indicators (TWI).
Tread wear indicators are identification protrusions running across within the grooves of the tyres that help in visually recognizing the degree of tread wear on the tyres and if they're safe to run or not.
The tyre industry body stated in its release that the initiative will be driven by the Indian Tyre Technical Advisory Committee (ITTAC), the technical arm of ATMA.
V K Misra, Chairman ITTAC, remarked:
“Usage of worn out tyres on Indian highways has emerged as a safety hazard. TWI is an easy to understand feature designed to help motorists replace tyres well within time and preempt accidents”,
via press release
New tyres come with a minimum tread depth of 8mm. Tread wear indicators (TWI), the projections within the tread grooves come with a depth of 1.6 mm, the legal minimum tread depth. As long as the non skid depth (tread depth) on the tyres is at a higher level than the indicators i.e. at least 1.6mm, they're are safe to drive on. Tyres need to be replaced immediately when the tread is worn to the level of TWI. There are marks on the shoulder region of tyres which point to the location of TWIs.
Motorists in India are largely unaware of the consequences of high degrees of tyre tread wear. Insufficient tread can often lead to potentially dodgy issues like larger breaking distances, lower stability at high speeds and an increased risk of aquaplaning. They can also cause your vehicle to loose traction while making sharp turns which can be extremely dangerous, especially for two wheeled vehicles. The initiative can potentially save millions of lives considering the multitude of people in our country that are involved in accidents caused by worn out tyres.
Speaking about the initiative, Rajiv Budhraja, Director General ATMA, said :
“In collaboration with the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH), ATMA and ITTAC are raising awareness about TWIs so that mishaps due to worn-out tyres could be minimized. With Honda joining hands in the initiative, the drive will gather further momentum."
via press release
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Honda in fact, has already positioned large posters for creating awareness on TWI at their corporate office and manufacturing unit at Greater Noida for the benefit of all the employees.
About ATMA : Headquartered in New Delhi (India), Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ATMA) is amongst the most active and well known national industry bodies in the country. The association is a representative body of eleven of the largest tyre companies in India that are responsible for over 90% of the tyre production in the country.
The main goal of ATMA is to work towards promoting and safeguarding the interests of the tyre industry in India by acting as conduit between the Government and the industry. The Association constantly interacts with the respective government departments to discuss the challenges being faced by the industry in the ever-changing economic environment. It also takes up an active role with the government in the policy making process for the industry.
Working as the industry’s interface with the media, opinion leaders, NGOs and other Industry associations around the world, ATMA represents the true perspective of Indian tyre industry on several issues.
