Motorist on Irish road stopped by gardai after 'erratic driving' - but officers discover even more danger

Gardai impounded a BMW in Kilkenny after they noticed it on the road with "erratic driving" - but soon discovered something dangerous about the vehicle.

The incident happened on Friday morning when the red Beamer was discovered driving strangely, with a number of people calling Gardai after spotting some dangerous manoeuvres.

Officers attached to the Kilkenny station intercepted it shortly after.

READ MORE: Four juveniles arrested over Cherry Orchard Garda car ramming

But upon further inspection, they noticed a major issue and it was all about the car's tyres.

They're possibly the most important part of your vehicle, and the law is that you need to have their tread depth at a minimum of 1.6mm.

The BMW didn't have anywhere near that, as a Garda spokesperson explained: "Gardai in Kilkenny seized this vehicle today under Section 41 of the Road Traffic Act for having no valid certificate of road worthiness.

"The vehicle was intercepted following reports of erratic driving. Upon inspection of the tyres the rears were found to be well under the mandated 1.6mm tread depth making it a real danger to other road users, especially in today's weather.

The BMW's tyres were well below what they had to be like depth wise (An Garda Siochana)

"Impound fees, fine and penalty points to follow."

You can check your tyre tread depth by running a €1 coin along the centre of the wheel. If the gold part of the coin is not visible, then the tyre tread is ok.

However, if it is visible, your tyre could be approaching the minimum legal depth so you should get them checked.

It is an offence to drive with defective or worn tyres. This attracts a fine of €80 and up to four penalty points upon conviction.

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