VACC Pushes Vehicle Safety Message With New Images

A SURVEY TAKEN in December showed 31 percent of Victoria's vehicles may be unsafe for the road. Today, the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce (VACC) has released photos that reveal the extent to which some motorists are ignoring vehicle safety.

VACC Executive Director David Purchase said that, in some cases, the damage to crucial components is so bad that drivers and occupants are lucky to be alive.

In the Five Point Safety Check survey taken in December, participating repairers tested 4100 vehicles. A total of 1287 vehicles failed the inspection of brakes, tyres, lights, steering and restraints.

“VACC repairers are reporting an increasing number of vehicles coming in to workshops that are in a dangerous condition. These photos are just the tip of the iceberg,” VACC Executive Director, David Purchase, said.

“VACC has released the photographs because we want motorists, and the media, to see the alarming things we see on a daily basis,” Mr Purchase said.

One of the images shows a brake rotor worn so badly worn that the outer surface was ground down to the cooling fins. Another photo shows a 'death crack' in the spoke of an alloy wheel, which could have caused the wheel to collapse.

A third image shows a brake caliper worn down because of an incorrectly-sized wheel being fitted to the vehicle, and a fourth image shows a tyre worn through to the metal casing.

Conducted free when vehicles are serviced at participating repairers, 25 percent of the vehicles tested in the December - more than 1000 - had unsafe tyres.