By  HELEN ZULU –
THE Zambia Bureau of Standards (ZABS) has published a standard for used tyres for motor vehicles which will serve as a guideline for all second hand tyres in the country.
ZABS head marketing and public relations Hazel Zulu said among other requirements, clearly specified that a used tyre should have a minimum average tread depth of 4.0 mm.
Ms Zulu said in a statement that this should be measured from four points or locations on the tyre with the shallowest tread depth.
“Used tyres are perceived to be one of the main contributing factors to the high number of road traffic accidents in the country.
“It is against this background that ZABS in collaboration with various stakeholders developed and published the standard for used tyres (ZS1051) which will be used to check used tyres that can be used on vehicles to enhance public safety on the roads,” she said.
Ms Zulu said the development of this standard was undertaken by the automobiles technical committee represented by a number of institutions.
The institutions include the Road Transport and Safety Agency(RTSA), Toyota Zambia Limited, CFAO Zambia and Commuters Rights Association of Zambia.
Others are the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) and  Tyre King Zambia.
She said ZABS was confident that the development and publication of this standard would significantly contribute to the reduction in the high number of road traffic accidents and cover the majority of Zambians who may not be able to buy brand new tyres.
“We therefore call on all stakeholders particularly those trading in used tyres to access this standard from ZABS so that they familiarise themselves with the requirements,” Ms Zulu said.
Early this year, the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) had proposed to ban the importation of secondhand tyres into the country with the view that they were bad tyres with wrong specifications flooding the country.
However, Government through Transport and communications minister Brian Mushimba rejected the proposed but directed ZABS and RTSA to develop a national standard for them that would take into account the types of roads and climate.
To this effect, ZABS has published a standard for used tyres for motor vehicles as tyres were a critical component of a vehicle that played an indispensable role in braking, acceleration, steering, and cornering.