Skip to main content

Researching vehicle tyre safety

For the last two years a team of European partners has been examining the interaction between vehicle tyres and road surfaces. According to the UK's TRL, one of the partners in the European project Tyrosafe (Tyre and Road Surface Optimisation for Skid resistance And Further Effects), devices to measure skid resistance were developed at the forerunner of the UK's TRL in the 1930s.
February 15, 2012 Read time: 3 mins
The European Tyrosafe project has been examining the interaction between vehicle tyres and road surfaces
For the last two years a team of European partners has been examining the interaction between vehicle tyres and road surfaces.

According to the UK's 777 TRL, one of the partners in the European project Tyrosafe (Tyre and Road Surface Optimisation for Skid resistance And Further Effects), devices to measure skid resistance were developed at the forerunner of the UK's TRL in the 1930s.

"Now there are lots of different types of equipment in use across Europe and around the world. Unfortunately, they operate on different principles and give different results because of the large number of variables affecting road/tyre friction," says the TRL.

The results of Tyrosafe will encourage public authorities of EU Member States to use existing and new research knowledge, to reduce fatalities, and promote environmental compatibility of road surfaces.

"The main objectives of the project were to raise awareness, to coordinate and prepare for European harmonisation, and to optimise the assessment and management of essential tyre/road interaction parameters, in order to increase safety and support greening of European road transport," says Tyrosafe, which completed its two-year project at the end of June.

The project is a coordination action funded by the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme and it consists of seven European partners (coordinator, the 2682 Austrian Institute of Technology; Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen (1369 BASt), Germany; 2686 Rijkswaterstaat Dienst Verkeer en Scheepvaart - Ministry of Transport and Navigation, The Netherlands; 2687 Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute; 1364 Forum of European National Highway Research Laboratories, Belgium; Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chaussées (1368 LCPC), France, and TRL.

"The most significant project outcomes are the recommendations for future policies concerning road surface properties, the Roadmap and Implementation Plan for Harmonisation of Skid Resistance Measurement Techniques, and the report on influences of road surface properties on skid resistance, rolling resistance, noise emissions, their interdependencies, and the investigation of their interaction with climatic change," says Tyrosafe.

"Environmental questions concerning noise pollution, air quality, and consumption of energy are becoming more and more important. Research has shown that road surface properties can be used to achieve increased safety and reduced environmental impact of road traffic. Drivers need sufficient grip between tyres and the road to accelerate, decelerate or change direction.

"With a sufficiently high level of skid resistance, the safety of roads can be improved and the number of accidents can be reduced."

The winners of the Tyrosafe video competition to produce a short video conveying the importance and raising awareness about the interactions among tyres, roads and safety were Gregor Salobir, Alma Muminovi?, Teja Pišek, Anamarija Repuši?, Karmen Vesenjak who produced TyroSafe-CARO Your Car and Road Science Lab.

Related Content

  • Europe’s road safety picture slanted wrong way?
    May 24, 2016
    The European Commission’s latest figures for road safety reveal some cause for concern across the EU. While the EU has the world’s safest roads overall, the road fatality rate has slipped during 2015. And this is for the second consecutive year also as EU road deaths in 2014 also showed an increase over 2013. By comparison, there were decreases in the European road death rate of 8% in 2012 and 2013.
  • Corridor for prosperity: The 5G Road
    June 14, 2019
    The next generation of highways will be a matrix of smart, intelligent and dynamic technologies that lower maintenance costs and ensure user safety. But challenges lie ahead, as Geoff Hadwick discovered in Dubrovnik The fifth-generation road is about to provide the world’s highway authorities with a big leap forward. This “forever-open”, self-healing road will integrate innovation into infrastructure, vehicles and entire intelligent transport systems, says Adewole Adesiyun, deputy secretary general of
  • Efficient asset management to trim maintenance budgets
    January 22, 2014
    Transport infrastructure is taken for granted in many, if not most, developed countries. This has resulted in a shortage of investment in maintenance, posing potential long term cost issues. In many developing nations transport networks are expanding fast, but insufficient thought is also being given to how these will be maintained.
  • Strategic paper on HGV road user charging
    May 10, 2012
    Another stage has been reached in the informal negotiations between the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council to revise the Eurovignette Directive. The Directive involves charging heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures, and an informal compromise has to be endorsed by the European Parliament and Council.