DOHA: Some off-road tyres, which are declared as an illegal for import by the Ministry of Environment (MoE), are still in use. These cheap ‘sand’ or ‘balloon’ tyres are low-pressure tyres made of nylon and linked to multiple fatal car accidents on the roads during 2012 and 2013, according to the findings of a latest study on tyre safety.
The QP Research and Technology Centre (QPRTC) started a project on the tyre safety of passenger vehicles two years back under the directives of H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Qatar Petroleum (QP).
Project results to date show that, in general, the approved tyres by the manufacturer provided with vehicles, are with a good quality and there is no evidence to show that these tyres play any role in fatal car accidents in Qatar and linked to multiple fatal car accidents on the public roads during 2012 and 2013.
“Our research showed that balloon tyres completely change the handling dynamics of a 4x4 vehicle, and negate most of the safety elements manufacturers build into their vehicles. Due to a significant increase in the profile (height) of the vehicle it becomes unstable, especially during cornering or when taking evasive action. Stopping distances are increased by a dangerous margin and handling on wet roads is almost impossible using the balloon tyres,” said Dr Nicolaas Traut, Head of the Tyre Safety Research project.
“QPRTC is pleased to be involved in this project and we hope that the results achieved will ultimately save some lives. The project is now in its final stages and we will issue a report containing all research and study results on completion,” added Dr Nasser Al Mohannadi, Manager of QPRTC.
The QPRTC recently participated in the Intelligent Transport Systems and Road Safety Forum held at Ritz-Calrton Doha Hotel.
This three-day event was attended by senior officials from the Ministry of Interior, and carried a strong message of traffic safety in Qatar and the systems implemented to keep citizens safe on the roads.
The Energy and Industry sector in Qatar employs over 120,000 staff, with more than 55,000 of those in the Oil and Gas industry, representing a large percentage of road users in Qatar. The remit of the project was to investigate the role that tyres play in fatal cars accidents. In order to cover all the aspects of tyre safety, QPRTC collaborated with the Texas A&M University and Williams Advanced Engineering for studying local conditions and available statistics, and comparing those to international standards and statistics.
As part of the Tyre Safety Project, Williams Advanced Engineering designed a road safety simulator that can simulate various types of tyre failure such as punctures, worn tyres and blowouts in both wet and dry conditions. The simulator will be used in QPRTC until the completion of the project, and then incorporated into the Safety (or Health, Safety and Environment) Department of QP for advanced driver training.
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