I love it when pensioners use words like bellend I find it hilarious ,makes them sound like a right err well bellend .
as said there is no actual law on stretch, only tyre manufacturers guidelines which is not the law, no one in the uk has ever been to court for runnining stretch as far as im aware ,many many opinions out there most people talking a load of tosh and don't really know what they are spouting just jumping on the they are dangerous bandwagon with no actual proof to back them up,its really no more dangerous than running a standard tyre under/over inflated/sidewall damaged/bulges etc by people who don't care about there cars and there are millions of people in this country that do this,so a few bellends including my self running the stretch aint going to change that statistic.
Ive been testing my own stretch tyres as I too had doubts about their integrity ,trying to force them off the rim on an actual disused runway at silly speeds and guess what.......nothing
Tyre manufacturer's guidelines are effectively the law - you can't legally fit a tyre outside of those guidlines without falling foul of the construction and use regs which directly puts you in contravention of the Road Traffic Act - how illegal do you want it to be?
Loads of people have been given Fixed penalties for running defective tyres but I don't believe any have had the guts to take it to court to challenge it - they've just paid up. That's a lot different to 'there have been no prosecutions'
Lifted from another forum - posted by a traffic cop
1, Regarding wheel width, they must not protrude more than 30mm beyond the wheel arches. (Council Directive 78/549/EEC)
2, Regarding the fitting of the tyre "Each tyre fitted to the vehicle shall be of a nominal size appropriate to the wheel to which it is fitted." Sec16(4 The Motor Vehicles (Approval) Regulations 2001'. The fact that the fit was outside manufacturers recommendations should be very persuasive to convince a court that the tyre was not fitted in a manner suitable to qualify it as 'approved'.
3, Section 40A RTA 1988 states "A person is guilty of an offence if he uses, or causes or permits another to use, a motor vehicle or trailer on a road when...the condition of the motor vehicle...or of its accessories or equipment...is such that the use of the motor vehicle or trailer involves a danger of injury to any person." Evidence to support this offence would include measurements of your wheel and tyre, and statements from the manufacturer or a tyre expert, indicating the potential risk of fitting outside their recommended parameters, namely, overheating, grip loss, unpredictable performance and behaviour etc etc.
4, If your vehicle was involved in a collision, especially one involving injury, where the cause led to the loss of control of your vehicle, dangerous driving may be considered, especially strengthened by Sec 2A(2) where "A person is also to be regarded as driving dangerously for the purposes of section 1 and 2 above if it would be obvious to a competent and careful driver that driving the vehicle in its current state would be dangerous."
In each case the facts would be able to be presented to court for their consideration, suffice to say if I saw your vehicle on the road with the tyres you describe, I'd certainly be looking into the S40A RTA offence, Number 3) on the list, supported by the offences evidenced at 1) and 2).
I'd also be looking at the no insurance angle. What have you told your insurers btw?
A lot of it is going to end up being down to the individual copper's opinion but they have plenty of scope for hitting you with 12 points at the side of the road if they are in the mood or bogging you down in a whole heap of VOSA inspection related hassle if they are in the mood.
