RIYADH, 14 July — The Ministry of Commerce has banned the sale and import of used tires in a bid to reduce the rising traffic accidents rate in the Kingdom.
The decision was taken following the recommendations of a committee appointed to study accidents on the expressways. Abdulali Al-Abdulali, director general of the anti-fraud division of the Commerce Ministry said he was coordinating with the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs to organize frequent patrols to stop the sales of used tires at shops, repair centers and workshops.
“The ministry also banned the sale of tires with some modifications made to them to be used on vehicles other than for which the tires were originally manufactured for,” Al-Abdulali said.
The officials said instructions have been issued to all the chambers of commerce and industry in the Kingdom to take steps to stop the import of used tires. The importers should make sure that the imported tires are in line with the Saudi specifications. All tires should be stocked strictly in compliance with the storage specifications, the officials said.
The committee to study road safety was set up on the instructions of Interior Minister Prince Naif. Its members comprise representatives of the Ministries of Interior, Communication and Commerce apart from the officials of the Public Safety and Saudi Arabian Standards Organization.
A visit to the Riyadh’s tire market revealed that most of the tire repair shops not only sold used tires to customers but also supplied such tires to the shops in provincials cities and towns in collaboration with expat traders. The price of used tires ranged between SR30 and SR60 for smaller cars and SR70 to SR120 for larger cars.
The traffic safety officials warned drivers and passengers about the increasing accidents caused by burst tires. The studies conducted in Makkah, Riyadh, the Eastern Province, Madinah, Qassim, Tabuk, Hail and Najran confirmed that one of the major causes of accidents on highways was faulty tires. The study which lasted for 333 days discovered that burst tires caused 624 accidents in which 97 people died and 749 were injured.
Over 64 percent of vehicles overturning were caused by defective tires which led to head-on collisions in 31 percent and 5 percent of crashes respectively, he said.
Birg. Gen. Fahd Al-Shammari, commander of the special force, attributed most accidents to negligence of checking the air pressure in tires, using second-hand tires and using tires not suited for the weather conditions.
The Riyadh Municipality has suspended the issuance or renewal of licenses for tire repair and sales shops on the main and arterial roads in the city. However, the order exempted the shops at petrol-filling stations and industrial centers.
