Honda Cars India (Honda) have positioned large posters on tyre Tread Wear Indicators (TWI) at their corporate office and manufacturing facility at Greater Noida in an effort to spread awareness on the hazards of worn out tyres. The initiative is championed by the Indian Tyre Technical Advisory Committee (ITTAC), the technical arm of India’s Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA), which seeks to educate motorists who are largely unaware of the degree of wear of the tyre tread of their vehicles. Worn out tyres require longer distances to stop and can easily cause accidents.
A TWI is a visual indicator of the degree of tyre tread wear.V. K. Misra, ITTAC Chairman, explains that TWIs are projections within the tread grooves with a depth of 1.6 mm, the legal minimum tread depth, designed to help motorists replace tyres accordingly and preempt accidents – tyres need to be replaced when the tread is worn to the level of TWI, indicated by marks on the tyre’s shoulder region.
“In collaboration with the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH), ATMA and ITTAC are raising awareness about TWIs to minimise mishaps due to worn-out tyres. With Honda joining hands in the initiative, the drive will gather further momentum,” said Rajiv Budhraja, Director General ATMA.