With the increasing awareness of the dangers associated with drinking and driving at Christmas, getting a cab is one of the most popular ways of getting home after a night out.

However, recent spot checks conducted by Avon and Somerset police, the South Somerset District Council and Vehicle and Operators Services Agency (VOSA) has revealed that taxis are not such a safe alternative.  The roadside checks, designed to verify whether the fleet in the area were roadworthy and complied with current regulations, found that a large proportion of the vehicles pulled over had defective tyres. Further warnings were given for tread depths which were very close to the minimum legal limit of 1.6 mm, putting the driver and members of the public at an increased risk on the road.

PC Tony Forster, who led the study in the South Somerset area, said: “It was disappointing to find so many defective tyres when these are critical to road safety, and are easy for a driver to make sure that they are legal.”

TyreSafe, the UK’s leading tyre safety organisation, fully supports roadside checks with 90% of drivers not knowing the correct tyre pressures for their vehicle, and 25% of all cars in the UK have at least one tyre that is either illegal, having a tread depth below 1.6mm, or badly worn. It is also important to note says TyreSafe, that the current drop in temperatures can affect the tyre’s ability to grip and so motorists should take even greater care when braking and cornering.

Commenting on the findings, TyreSafe explains: “These results are particularly worrying, especially at a time when demand for cabs soars, as people make their way back from parties. It is only right for customers to assume that when they use a taxi, it is fully road legal, and that the tyres are in a safe condition with the pressures and tread depth maintained at the correct levels.”

For more information on Tyresafe, visit www.tyresafe.org.