FRANKIE DeGROOT | Local News | Contact
Motorist Pat Zelman had a close shave with the law on Wednesday, after almost having his Nissan Maxima defected for worn tyres, despite the fact that he knew they were perfectly fine.
After a long day at the Carpet Tile Warehouse, Pat was looking forward to eating microwaved quiche in front of Air Crash Investigations when a patrol car lit him up just 300m from his home.
After Pat passed a breath test, veteran Police Officer Brett Lena turned his attention to Pat’s tyres, which, despite their worn appearance, were as roadworthy as they were when they were purchased from a wrecking yard 3 years ago.
“He pulled out the tyre tread depth gauge and I thought ‘here we go’.” said Pat. “I knew he was about to stitch me up over my tyres, even though they all have air in them still, especially at the top. I had to let him know they were ok or he was going to think they were worn out or something”.
Pat was right.
The Maxima was seconds away from a defect sticker when Pat told Officer Lena the tyres were ok.
“I just said “Hey, what are you doing? They’re fine, mate. They got me here ok didn’t they? Don’t you think I’d just go and get new tyres if I needed them? Think about it, mate. They’re good to go.”
“Yeah, at first I thought the tyres were no good” explained Officer Lena.
“I mean, when he tried to pull over he slid sideways into a bus stop. When I inspected them, the front tyres were almost bald and the rears were smoother than a Cardi B Greatest Hits record. I was just about to defect his car and write out a ticket when I found out they were ok. We can laugh about it now because it was an honest mistake.”
While Pat is relieved the Maxima and it’s Goodyear Aquatreds will live to see another day, he does concede that one day he may have to visit the wrecking yard again to purchase another set of used tyres.
“Yeah, I might need some new tyres soon, but these ones are ok for now” explained Pat.
“Look, you can see the canvas here, but the rest of this tyre is ok, especially here and this spot over here. I mean, I’m not a car person and have no tyre experience whatsoever, so if I can tell they are fine, anybody should be able to figure it out.”
