Motion no: 45
This Congress notes with sadness that in September 2012, two young people returning from a music festival in England lost their lives when the coach they were travelling in crashed.
The driver was also killed.
The crash was caused by a tyre that was nearly 20 years old – this is legal and we must campaign to put an end to it.
There is no legislation in the UK or Ireland to prevent potentially dangerous tyres from being used on coaches, buses or commercial vehicles. Manufacturers recommend tyres should be disposed of after 10 years.
Congress it’s our members driving these vehicles. It’s our comrades, families and friends using coaches without knowing if the tyres are safe or as road users putting themselves at risk if a rogue operator causes an accident. This must end.
Passenger vehicles such as coaches currently operate trust; trust that everything has been done to ensure the safety of their passengers. Passengers have no control over these safety checks, which is why a change in legislation
is vital.
Allowing dangerously old tyres to be used endangers countless lives.
We call on ICTU to:
Develop a campaign to have legislation implemented that would outlaw the use of tyres older than 10 years on commercial and public hire vehicles in all parts of this Island.
Develop a campaign to encourage all employers, coach operators and authorities to immediately sign up to an ICTU campaign stating that they will not use tyres older than 10 years.
Encourage affiliates with membership in these areas to ensure that their vehicles are safety checked and ask them to sign up to a Congress pledge that they will not/are not using old tyres.
Promote amongst affiliates and those hiring coaches to ensure that the operator they are using adheres to strict guidelines around tyre safety.
• Promote awareness of the dangers of old tyres and let people know the steps that they can take to ensure their safety.
The success of this campaign, to ban dangerously old tyres will instantly increase the levels of safety on our roads. Many coach companies do have strict guidelines around tyre safety but rouge operators run dangerous risks. They risk lives to cut costs and only strict legislation will stop them.
