“1st Series – Tyre Care & Road Safety

Under the tri-series on “Road Safety Advocacy for Tyres’’, Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association/Indian Tyre Technical Advisory Committee (ATMA/ITTAC) along with Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) organized the first edition on ‘Tyre Care and Road Safety’, to spread awareness about tyre maintenance and its crucial role in safe driving. Under the ‘Tri Series’, ATMA-SIAM will be organizing three sessions on various aspects of tyre care, road safety, and sustainability.

Key speakers included Dr S S Gupta, Sr. Development Officer, DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Mr Anshuman Singhania, Chairman, ATMA, Mr Prashant K Banerjee, Executive Director, SIAM, Mr Rajesh Menon Director General, SIAM, Mr Rajiv Budhraja, Director General, ATMA, Mr V K Misra, Past Chairman, ITTAC & Technical Director, J K Tyre & Industries, Mr Sudershan Gusain, Sr. Dy. General Manager, Bridgestone India, Mr B V Shamsundara, Deputy Director (SHL), ARAI, Mr Ravin Kurian, Chairman, ITTAC & Sr. General Manager, MRF, Mr Deepak Sawkar, Senior Advisor, Maruti Suzuki  and Mr Harjeet Singh, Chairman, SIAM Two Wheeler Group & Executive Adviser- Technical, Hero Motocorp.

“Road safety and tyre are very closely related. Under the tri-series jointly organized with ATMA, the first series focuses on tyre and road safety, second on technology and environmental issues, and third on standards, regulations and sustainability”, said Mr Prashant K Banerjee, executive director, SIAM.

“Tyres are the most critical safety component for a vehicle and road safety and are one of the highly regulated automotive components, said Mr Rajesh Menon, Director General, SIAM.

In his inaugural address, Mr Anshuman Singhania, Chairman ATMA & MD, JK Tyre and Industries said, “Tyre industry in India has all along understood the need for safety and has been constantly upgrading for promoting sustainable mobility. It has been our consistent effort to ensure that tyres are central to all discussion about road safety, behavioural fuel efficiency, rider handling, etc. Tyres are unfortunately one of the most neglected parts of vehicle, but awareness is now growing. Road safety revolves around 3Es – education, engineering and enforcement and I would urge the industry to organise more such programs to educate the wider audience.”

Guest of honour, Dr S S Gupta, Sr. Development Officer, DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce & Industry said, “This program on awareness about tyre care and road safety is very timely and relevant. The issues related to the tyre industry are being taken care of continuously by the DPIIT under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Various interventions have been initiated by the Department, including the one on Import Policy which brought tyres from free import category to restricted category, giving a boost to the domestic industry. These initiatives will lead to Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, while promoting local manufacturing of tyres.”

According to Mr Rajiv Budhraja, Director General, ATMA, tyre has been the most regulated yet neglected auto component, and data substantiates that tyre care is lacking globally. These awareness and education initiatives will herald a new era of raising awareness and imparting education on the aspect of tyre safety through this tri lecture series especially in this digital world.”

Mr Sudershan Gusain, Sr. Dy. GM, Bridgestone India Pvt Ltd, said that 410 deaths per day happen due to road traffic accidents in India and many of these are attributed to neglected tyres. While he called for greater industry efforts to changing perception on tyre care through awareness, he encouraged all motorists to maintain their vehicle’s tyres by playing their PART- Pressure, Alignment, Rotation and Tread.”

Mr Ravin Kurian, Chairman ITTAC & Sr. General Manager, MRF Ltd, spoke about safety, durability and failure analysis of tyres. He pointed out that rash driving, low inflation and potholes are considered to be the major reasons for quick wearing out of tyres, and highlighted that road hazards, inflation pressure, tyre section height and structure are important parameters for understanding quality of tyres.

The interactive session held amongst speakers focused on the pivotal role of tyres in road safety being the only point of contact between the vehicle and the road. The tri-series will continue its endeavours and organize the two remaining sessions on the topics “Technology and Environmental Challenges”, on 24th September 2021 and “Regulation and Sustainability” in October 2021, which will deliberate upon various aspects of tyre manufacturing, raw material sourcing, recycling, environmental, regulatory framework and sustainability.