HC Deb 13 April 1959 vol 603 cc56-8W
Mr. Russell

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works, as representing the Lord President of the Council, what prospect there is of decreasing the likelihood of skidding as a result of the research carried out on rubber by the Road Research Laboratory and by Dr. Tabor, of Cambridge.

Mr. H. Nicholls

This recent research on the elastic properties of rubber offers the prospect of tyres with greater resistance to skidding on wet roads; but certain practical difficulties will have to be overcome before such tyres will have a performance in other ways satisfactory enough for general use. A number of tyre manufacturers in this country and abroad are understood to be trying to solve the problem; and it is not possible to forecast how quickly a solution will be found.