The road safety department (JKJR) has urged the Terengganu Road Transport Department to act more assertively in discouraging motorists from opting to buy used tyres for their vehicles.
JKJR officer Ramli Jusoh said his department did not have any enforcement authority to penalise motorists from using used tyres.
“Despite numerous campaigns carried out by our department, the preference for many motorists is still used tyres. Admittedly, road safety awareness among them is still lacking; their hesitant to buy new tyres is probably also because of the soaring prices,” he told Bernama today.
Meanwhile, tyre shop owner, Lee Hwa, 45, said many of his customers would usually ask for used tyres.
“We do advise them to buy new tyres. But they insist on used tyres because they do not have enough money to buy new ones, so I have to oblige,” he said.
He said he sold used tyres at his shop because there was a demand for them.
Another tyre shop owner, Hashim Abdullah, 34, opined that it was necessary for motorists to have some savings strictly for buying new tyres when the time came for them to replace the old ones.
“It is for their own safety. Insufficient funds or an unstable economy should not be an excuse to be unconcerned about their road safety,” he told Bernama