During my recent stint in the United Arab Emirates, I led a group of business students through the development of a Road Safety Awareness campaign. Having spent four years investigating fatal traffic incidents in the Brisbane metropolitan area, Queensland, Australia, many years ago, this was an interesting review of road safety.
The Emirates have the highest road fatality rate in the world, for example in Dubai, one person dies every 32 hours from some kind of road trauma. The rest of the country also has a high rate of road fatalities. One area of our research that struck me was the inordinately high number of single-vehicle incidents that apparently involved tire failure.
Emirates has some of the best roads I have ever seen; Divided driveways in excellent condition, multiple lanes, fences to keep cattle off the road, and well lit at night. It also has some of the worst drivers and very lax law enforcement. Although posted speed limits on major highways are 120 km/h, most believe you can reach 140 km/h without getting a speeding ticket. Many people go much faster.
With money to spend, pitiful oil prices, fast cars and inexperience, it’s a dangerous mix that kills many young Emiratis every year. The mixture is even more dangerous when drivers are not aware of tire specifications and maintenance. I am sure that this lack of knowledge about tires, in addition to speed and lack of experience and attention, is one of the main causes of the many rollovers on perfectly straight and well designed roads.
Tires have different specifications depending on their use. Those specs not only include things like tread pattern, style and depth, construction, etc., but more importantly, the maximum sustainable speed at which they can be used for off-road driving. long duration and maximum weight limitations.
Figure that if you buy a tire with a maximum sustainable speed of 120 km/h, it is not a safe practice to travel for a long time at higher speeds. As the Emirates is a very hot country with ambient temperatures in the summer months often hovering around 50 degrees Celsius or higher, the ability of the tires to withstand high temperatures is also critical.
When purchasing tires for a vehicle, the owner/driver must consider where, how and for how long the vehicle will be used. Getting water dispersion patterns on the tread in the Emirates would not make sense… it rarely rains, whereas in those cities with a lot of precipitation, it makes much more sense. What one needs for Emirates is a tire that will sustain high-speed driving on very hot roads for at least three to five hours at a time. While the load capacity of a tire is not as important (they are usually over-specified) on sedans, on a light truck, it should be factored into the purchase decision. Also, loads placed on light trucks must be adjusted to the capacity of the tires. No overload.
The next important considerations are tire inflation and wheel alignment. Improper wheel alignment will cause tires to wear unevenly and is usually a matter of wasting money reducing tire wear rather than a safety issue (unless the tire becomes bald spot). Tire pressure, however, is critical.
Tire and motor vehicle manufacturers specify tire inflation pressures, typically with varying loads. In addition to wearing out tires faster if under-inflated or over-inflated, tubeless tires can also come off the rims if they don’t have enough air pressure. With too much air pressure, tires can blow out or develop weak spots in the tire sidewalls. Eventually these can fail and cause the tires to burst, collapse or completely disintegrate.
Since tires are what prevent a vehicle from skidding and provide traction, it is not rocket science to suggest that they are an integral part of road safety in general. Poor tire selection, improper use, and poor maintenance can lead to disaster.
If only we could get Emirati drivers to pay more attention to the selection, maintenance and use of their tyres, many lives could be saved each year. But, as I discovered so many years ago, changing people’s attitudes is very difficult, even when it means saving their lives.
How long ago did you check your tire pressure?
Copyright 2008, Robin Henry