The introduction of road vehicle tyres that are safer, quieter and greener by reducing fuel consumption, have been delayed by up to fourteen years following a vote earlier this week in the European Parliament.
The new tyre standards should have been introduced between 2012 and 2016 according to the European Commission’s original legal proposal. But the European Parliament, under pressure from the tyre industry, added a two to four year grace period before all tyres have to comply, followed by a further 30 months when existing stock can be sold off by retailers.
Nina Renshaw of campaign group, the European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E) said: “The industry has cynically exploited the current economic climate to postpone progress on cleaner, safer tyres for years to come. At the end of the day it is their customers who will be hurt by this. We are talking about technology that saves lives, saves money, and reduces impacts on health and the environment. Thanks to today’s vote we’ll have to wait until 2023 to see the full effects.”
“These standards ask nothing more than what can already be achieved using existing technology. For example around 90 per cent of lorry tyres currently on the market already meet the new noise standards.”
Luckily, the European Commission still has the opportunity to undo some of the damage when the technical details of this law are worked out under the so-called ‘comitology’ procedure. The 30-month delay could be shortened. In T&E’s view, it is essential that it is.
The standards that apply to noise levels from van tyres could also be rendered meaningless. Bizarrely, the Parliament created a loophole whereby tyres can be categorised under a classification not properly defined in the law. Under the ‘traction snow tyres’ category, tyres can be up to 4 decibels noisier. An increase of just 3 decibels effectively doubles the noise level.
Noise pollution from road taffic has been linked to an increase risk of heart attacks, high blood pressure and increased stress levels. According a report published last year by Berry Environmental Ltd, up to 134 people in the Greater London area alone are at risk of dying due to exposure to road transport noise.
[tags]tyre, noise, safety, t&e, traffic, EU[/tags]
