There should be tighter control to ensure that heavy trucks use only standard and approved tyres to avoid blowouts on the road, local Arabic daily Arrayah reported yesterday.

Incidents of tyre blowouts of heavy trucks on some highways in Qatar have caused major accidents, leading to severe damages to other vehicles too in addition death and injury of road users.

Tyre blowouts are usually attributed to three main reasons: bad or worn tyres, excessive cargo and unpaved and rough roads.

Recently a tyre of a heavy truck exploded on the Abu-Samra Highway, sending the truck off the road and hitting a parked car. The accident resulted in the death of a Qatari man and two of his friends sustained severe injuries.

The main reason for using bad tyres that are non-compliant with the approved standards is their cheap prices, according to technicians. Such tyres are often sold at around QR200 apiece while the standard and quality ones cost around QR 700-1,000.

“Neglecting the timely replacement of worn-out tyres is the main reason for their sudden explosion on the road. Hot weather and excessive cargo can  add to this. It is a big problem that some truck drivers go for cheap second-hand tyres which can’t  be reliable in any way,” said Abdulrazik Nimr, an expatriate tyre technician.

Another technician, Ahmed Kamal, recommended that truck drivers should always carry proper equipment and tools to replace tyres on the road if needed and must conduct regular maintenance and inspection of them.

“Running on rough roads substantially contributes towards the untimely wear of tyres so truck drivers who go through such roads should replace the tyres of their trucks more often,” he said.

Ali Khidr, an expatriate truck driver, said that heavy truck tyres should be replaced every six months to avoid such accidents. However, he explained that contractors and project engineers usually forced truck drivers to overload their vehicles. “If a truck has maximum load capacity of 25 tonnes, some contractors and engineers force truck drivers to carry around 35 tonnes to and from the worksites,” he said, indicating that in case a truck driver refused, it would be hard for him to find work as his services would be rejected.

Abdulaziz al-Emadi, a young Qatari man, demanded that qualified staff should be appointed by the competent authorities to inspect tyres of such trucks at checkpoints to ensure compliance with safety regulations.

Central Municipal Council member Mohamed al-Khayarin stressed that tyres with special technical specifications only should be used in trucks to avoid blowouts.

“The tyres should be suitable to the local weather and road conditions. The issue should not be left to the judgment and choice of truck drivers as they may delay the timely replacement, thinking they are saving more money. Instead, non-compliant trucks should be impounded.”

The CMC member  hoped the Consumer Protection Department would tighten its control on the local tyre market and ban the imports of non-standard tyres.