Coroner voices concerns about old tyres after fatal car accident
By Denna Bowman
A coroner has called for a ban on vehicle tyres which are more than ten-years-old after a mother was killed when the 13-year-old tyres fitted to her car failed.
Alan Crickmore raised his concern about the controversial issue to tyre aging after mother-of-two Nazma Shaheen died when the people carrier she was a passenger in was involved in the fatal high speed crash.
The Gloucestershire coroner said he will would be writing to the Transport Secretary calling for MOT rules to be revised after warning more lives could be lost.
Nazma Shaheen from Birmingham was travelling in a people carrier when a tyre fitted 13 and a half years ago burst and the vehicle rolled over onto the hard shoulder of the M5 near Tewkesbury.
Mr Crickmore recorded a verdict of accidental death and said he did not think she would have died if the tyre had been newer.
The inquest was told the M-registered Toyota Lucida people carrier was being driven by her husband, Umar Farooq Bahadur, on the northbound carriageway of the M5 on May 6 last year.
Between junctions nine and 10 near Tewkesbury, a rear tyre rapidly deflated, the Toyota veered right and then left onto the hard shoulder. It clipped a kerb and rolled over, throwing Mrs Shaheen clear of the vehicle.
She suffered fatal head and abdominal injuries when she landed on the hard shoulder.
There are currently no legal constraints on the ages of tyres but manufacturers generally agree that a tyre should not be in use beyond 10 years. Some companies limit the lifespan to six years, the inquest heard.
Number: Z8037079
Reg: NKF419
