Yesterday, after revealing the 23 new UN regulations under the World Forum for Harmonisation of Vehicle Regulations (WP29) to be gazetted by 2015, Road Transport Department (JPJ) automotive engineering assistant director Arif Fahmi Abdul Wahab outlined the UN regulations and standards to do with vehicle tyres.
As minute and trivial as the component(s) may seem, no fewer than five UN regulations and five standards relating to tyres are already in force, covering passenger and commercial vehicles, motorcycles and retreaded tyres. The standards comprise MS (Malaysian Standards) and FMVSS (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, from the NHTSA in the US).
Set to be enforced from January 1, 2015 are R64 Temporary Spare Tyres and R117 Tyre Rolling Sound Emission, while R88 Motorcycle Retroreflective Tyres is set to be gazetted in July 2017 for enforcement in January 2020.
With regards to the standards and regulations currently in place, importers of new tyres are required to present a UN, MS or FMVSS certificate for approval. Tyres must have a minimum tread depth of 1.6 mm, and snow and regrooved tyres (carving additional tread depth) are not permitted.
Retreaded tyres are permitted, and it's JPJ and Puspakom's job to ensure these tyres meet specifications. There are of course many more parameters that tyres must satisfy - the lab at the Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia has tested over 770 tyres between 2002 and 2012, and is capable of evaluating dimensions, structure endurance, high-speed capability, bead unseating force, rolling resistance and dynamic circumference, amongst others.
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