Q&A - Speed Rating of Tires

Q&A ImageI have a real issue with the trend of pick up trucks being modified.

Without going into all the details of what the modifications may include, lets say that there seems to be little regard for compliance for existing MV regulations, and it has now become accepted practise. My perceived take on it is that both enforcement, and the owners of modified vehicles, have accepted, that due to it evolving to the prevalence its now at, maybe it is acceptable.

One aspect I am curious about is the speed rating of the tires that are being installed on trucks. The cosmetic appearance seems to be the primary concern, as with all the other trendy modifications, are usually made in conjunction to complete the transformation. In short,"Fashion before Function".

I have attached a link to a dash cam video, that will explain why I am asking about tire rating.

As i said I have serious concerns with whole "trend", and have contacted ICBC in the past and tried to encourage them to help address the matter. They said it is an enforcement issue.

Wow! That's as close as you can get without actually colliding...

Kal Tire has what appears to be a good resource explaining tire speed ratings.

I somehow doubt that this incident is the fault of the tires, rather I suspect that it has more to do with driver inattention or unsafe speed (or both).

There are some threatening clouds in the sky, but the pavement looks dry to me. This would tend to indicate that the best conditions for friction are available and without contamination on the road surface the limiting factor would be the tire. According to Kal Tire's page, big blocky tread is not necessarily a drawback and in my experience these tires appear to fit that bill.

The Motor Vehicle Act Regulations specify acceptable tires that may be sold in B.C.:

Sale of pneumatic tires

7.16 No person shall sell or offer for sale a pneumatic tire either separately or as part of a vehicle intended to be used upon

(a) a passenger motor vehicle designed to carry not in excess of 10 persons, including the driver,

(b) a station wagon, or

(c) a trailer licensed under the Act,

unless the tire conforms to the standard of performance for tires from time to time made by the Canadian Standards Association, now numbered C.S.A. Standard D 238.1, entitled "New Pneumatic Tires for Passenger Cars"; and is labelled in accordance with the standard.

I suspect that you would be hard pressed to find a tire for sale that did not qualify.

Most people think that ICBC should have a stake in enforcement and they did at one time when Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement was under their control. It is part of the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure now. Their area of responsibility is insurance and road safety that is not enforcement save for the funding of special enforcement initiatives.

You spend a lot more time on the road than I do these days, so you may have a better feel for modified pickup trucks, but this seems to be much less common today than it did 20 years ago. The government did respond to it and mandated inspection for suspension height modifications beyond a certain threshold. This is the responsibility of the owner.

If this was ignored, or significant defects are uncovered at the roadside, police can order a vehicle to inspection. If that is ignored, ICBC steps in and flags the vehicle registration. Insurance issue / renewal cannot be done until a pass is obtained. Police can see this as well and choose to take more significant enforcement action.

So, modified vehicles are ultimately a policing matter, not something that ICBC has been tasked with.

I do agree with you, many modifications are done because they look good in the eyes of the vehicle owner and may actually reduce safety.

Where can one obtain a copy of billings for the extra enforcement. Would be interesting to see what we are actually getting for our money and how much is spent towards speed enforcement compared to other infractions.

What I've always wanted to see is collision statistics for police vehicles just to see how they handle themselves behind the wheel. But I doubt they're going to tell us.

And at the end of the day, I doubt they would provide the answers. The bill for wrecked or damaged police vehicles no doubt goes to Ottawa. 

I'll just never forget driving in a parallel lane into a school zone, as the male cop at the wheel also operated the laptop, whilst the female cop did nothing useful. Myself, I slowed to 30 k?mh but not their vehicle ...