Tyred Campaign

In September 2012, Michael Molloy then aged 18, was travelling back from the Bestival music festival when the coach he was travelling in crashed on the A3 in Surrey killing him, Kerry Ogden, aged 23, and the driver, Colin Daulby. Many of the young people travelling on the coach were left with horrific, life changing, injuries. The cause of the coach crash was a 19.5 year old tyre. The tyre was older than Michael. Unbelievably, there is no law that prevents irresponsible operators from using dangerously old tyres and the general public is completely unaware. Two coroners have written to the government voicing their concerns about safety in relation to the age of tyres. Since losing Michael, his Mum, Frances Molloy, has been campaigning tirelessly with support from the previous MP for Walton, Steve Rotheram and her local MP Maria Eagle. A bill reached Parliament in 2015 but due to the election the campaign had a setback. In June 2017, with the support of Agent Marketing and Downtown in Business, Frances re-launched and established the tyred campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of old coach tyres, to influence change in legislation and, ultimately, save lives. Many people aren’t aware that the coaches that take their families to football matches, school trips and on holiday are using dangerously old tyres. People are horrified that this is the case. Frances thought coach travel was a safe form of public transport, yet the coach to which she entrusted her son turned out to be a deathtrap because of a 19.5 year old tyre that no-one could see was going to burst because of the deterioration caused by its age. Michael was a talented and creative writer and musician, just making his future in that exciting world. After his death, the family released a song he had recorded literally weeks before ‘Rise and Fall’ which made the top 40 in the charts and was given critical acclaim by musicians such as Brian May and James Morrison. Michael’s life was full of enjoyment, love, hope and promise. His life was needlessly cut tragically short. tyred Campaign Update Since the campaign launched there has been extraordinary support. ‘Vital, common sense, essential...' Some words used when MP’s learnt about #tyred at the Labour and Conservative Party Conferences. EVERYBODY the team spoke to agreed legislation needs to change! Liverpool City Council kick started the local government movement of support for the tyred Campaign. Since Liverpool passed its Council Motion in July Cheltenham, Harrow, Wirral, Knowsley, Sefton and West Lancs Councils have each passed Motions to back tyred Campaign. National Express, Big Green Coach Company, National Tyre Distributors Association, The Association for Independent Festivals, Bestival, Merseyside Fire and Rescue and Liverpool School Improvements. Tyred reached Parliament when Maria Eagle MP presented a first reading of the tyred Bill on 31st October 2017. Mayor Rotheram and Merseytravel announced that they had secured agreement from all their operators to ban old tyres from all PSVs operating on their network across Merseyside. We Need Your Support We are calling on you and your business to support the campaign. Together we can raise awareness, influence a change in legislation and, ultimately, save lives. Get in touch with the campaign team on 0151 707 0427 or visit www.tyred.org.uk