Excellent Idea IMO if it ever comes to fruition, will catch many uninsured drivers & Untested cars as well as hopefully making people think abouth their tyres.

'Treadcam' sensor snares drivers that have tyres below legal limit

Motorists fed up with speed cameras will have their moods lowered even further by a new police scanner that can tell whether a car tyre is below the legal limit.

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/877090-treadcam-sensor-snares-drivers-that-have-tyres-below-legal-limit#ixzz1ZTJmm7zY

The ‘treadcam’ is placed on a road and uses lasers to check the state of tyres on passing vehicles.

Details of any tyres below the legal limit are sent to waiting police officers down the road, who then pull over the driver.

The £43,000 device has been criticised by the RAC, which said it should not be a priority for police at a time when resources are tight.

The ProContour machine is made in Germany and members of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) visited the country to see it.

Tyre sensor A car drives over a Procontour inforcement camera (Picture: SWNS)

It is sunk into the surface of the road to scan tyres, with information about those below the limit sent electronically to officers. They then conduct a separate test.

Offending motorists could be hit with a points penalty or fine.

Any decision to bring in the equipment would be made by individual police forces, ACPO said.

Adrian Tink, RAC motoring strategist, questioned the police’s possible use of the machine.

‘Should this be a priority when resources are limited?,’ he said.

‘That £43,000 could fill a lot of potholes, and issues such as drink-driving or driving while using a mobile are more important.’

He added: ‘Anything that improves safety is welcome, but motorists are going to be left scratching their heads if they start getting fines or points for their tyres.’

IMO again, I think the minimum depth should be increased, and if the Mway limit is increased that would be a perfect time to do so.

I thought there was talk of increasing the min tread from 1.6mm to 2mm?

It's yet another utter waste of money - it's only for screening at road side stops like at a weigh station, how much effort is it for a copper (or other official) to bend down and look?

If it didn't require an actual police officer to follow it through, and was fully automated then it could be useful. But yes, seems a bit of a waste of resources plus surely it means digging the road up.

Much better spent on roads i say and improving surfaces that don't actually chew the tyres to shreds like the M54 concrete motorway.

I agree that illegal tyres is one of the most dangerous things to have on your car, but the likelihood is an experienced copper would be able to 'tell' which cars were illegal......I could drive down the road now and know which cars i would pull over

Why not outlaw cheap tyres?! There's some tyres which handle shockingly as soon as there's a drop of water on the road.