Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the recent conclusion of the inquest into the September 2017 M5 van crash in which five people died informed his decision to consult on banning dangerous old tyres.

The decision to consult was taken before the Coroner’s Inquest into the tragic collision on 16 September 2017. It was based on the emerging body of evidence, collated by the Department for Transport, over several years including that obtained from vehicle inspections and the important new research commissioned in January 2018.

The Department also commissioned an independent examiner in relation to the tyre implicated in the collision of 16 September 2017. The Department became aware of new evidence implicating tyre ageing directly in the cause of the collision on 21 February 2019, evidence with which the Department's independent examiner concurred. The analysis from the independent experts included as testimony at the inquest formed an important contribution to the Department's emerging evidence base. Ministers were informed of this new evidence on 22 February 2019