The legal minimum
- Minimum tread depth
- 1 millimetreRegulation 212(j)(i)
- Measured where
- Across the breadth of the tyre and around its entire circumferenceNot the deepest groove — the shallowest point anywhere on the tyre
- If the tyre has tread-depth indicators
- Unlawful once the tread is level with themThe indicator is the standard, whatever a gauge says
- Small motorcycles (50 cc or less)
- A visible tread pattern over at least 80 percent of the full width of the treadA different test, not the 1 mm one
- Retreaded tyres
- Never on a motorcycle
1 mm everywhere, not 1 mm somewhere
This is the distinction the whole page turns on, and it is the one nearly everybody gets wrong.
The regulation does not say a tyre must have 1 mm of tread. It says the tyre must display, "throughout, across its breadth and around its entire circumference, a pattern which is clearly visible, and has a tread of at least one millimetre in depth".
Three words are doing the work. Throughout: at every point. Across its breadth: from one shoulder to the other, not just in the middle where you can see it. Around its entire circumference: all the way round, including the part currently on the ground.
So a tyre with deep tread in the centre and a bald strip on the inner shoulder is unlawful, even though the part you can see looks fine. That is also the most common way a tyre goes illegal without anybody noticing — uneven wear puts the worn strip where you do not look.
The practical consequence: check the inner shoulder, and roll the car forward to see the rest of the circumference.
Tread-depth indicators settle it for you
Most modern tyres have small raised bars set into the bottom of the main grooves. They are moulded to the legal wear limit, and the regulation gives them their own paragraph.
Regulation 212(j)(ii) makes it an offence to operate a vehicle fitted with a tyre containing a tread-depth indicator if the tread is level with that indicator. There is no argument to be had about millimetres: once the rubber beside the bar is flush with it, the tyre is finished in law.
Find them by looking for a small triangle, an arrow or the letters TWI moulded into the shoulder of the tyre. The marker points at the groove the indicator sits in.
What else makes a tyre unlawful
Tread is only one of the fifteen paragraphs in regulation 212. These are the ones that reach an ordinary car or motorcycle.
| Regulation 212 | The tyre is unlawful if |
|---|---|
| (f) | The rubber covering is so worn or damaged that the fabric or cord used in the tyre's construction is exposed |
| (l) | It has a break in its fabric, or a cut deep enough to reach the cords, longer than 25 mm or 10 percent of the tyre's maximum width — whichever of the two is greater |
| (m) | It has a lump or bulge caused by the separation of, or a partial break in, its structure |
| (e) | It is in such a state of disrepair or condition that it may damage the road surface, or may be a danger |
| (g) | It is so constructed and fitted that the metal part of the wheel may come into contact with the road surface |
| (h) | It is a retreaded tyre and the vehicle is a motorcycle |
| (i) | It is a regrooved tyre with a bead diameter of 430 mm or less |
| (a) to (d) | It is a metal tyre on a motor vehicle. Metal tyres are allowed only on tractors, trailers and animal-drawn vehicles, and then only at a minimum width and with the whole tread in contact with the road |
The cut rule in (l) is the one worth reading twice: the limit is 25 mm OR a tenth of the tyre's width, whichever is greater — so a wide tyre is allowed a longer cut than a narrow one.
A bulge is more urgent than bald tread
Worn tread is a slow problem. You lose grip in the wet, gradually, and you can plan the replacement.
A lump or bulge in the sidewall is a different thing entirely. It means the structure inside the tyre has separated or partly broken, usually after a pothole or a kerb strike, and the only thing holding the air in at that point is the outer rubber. That tyre can fail suddenly at speed.
The regulation treats them as equally unlawful. Judgement should not: a tyre at the wear limit gets you to the fitment centre, a bulging one gets replaced before the next trip.
The same reasoning applies to a cut that has reached the cords. Once the cords are exposed, the tyre's strength member is open to water and to road grit.
Small motorcycles are measured differently
The 1 mm rule has a proviso, and it excludes two things: a motorcycle with an engine of 50 cubic centimetres or less, and a trailer drawn by a tractor at not more than 40 km/h.
For that small motorcycle, regulation 212(k) applies a different test — the tyre must have a visible tread pattern over at least 80 percent of the full width of the tread, at every position on the tread. It is a coverage test rather than a depth test.
Anything larger than 50 cc is back on the ordinary 1 mm rule. And regulation 212(h) bans retreaded tyres on a motorcycle of any size, which is a prohibition that does not apply to cars at all.
Tyre pressure: the law does not set a number
This is worth being straight about, because pages that quote a pressure figure as though it were law are inventing one.
There is no tyre inflation pressure anywhere in the National Road Traffic Regulations, in the National Road Traffic Act, or in any of the Department of Transport's three learner-driver manuals. Regulation 212 governs the condition of a tyre and says nothing about how hard it is pumped up.
The correct pressure is the vehicle manufacturer's figure for your vehicle, and it is printed on a placard — usually on the driver's doorpost or door edge, sometimes inside the fuel filler flap — and repeated in the owner's manual. It is a property of the car, not of the tyre, so two different cars running identical tyres can have different correct pressures. A figure someone quotes you for "a normal car" is a guess.
One thing the regulations do reach, indirectly: an under-inflated tyre wears its shoulders and an over-inflated one wears its centre strip, and regulation 212(j)(i) is failed by a worn strip anywhere on the tyre. Pressure is not itself an offence, but it is how a tyre arrives at one.
The mistake
Checking the tread where it is easiest to reach. The middle of the tyre, on the outer face, at the part you can see without moving the car, is the one place the rule is not really asking about. The test is the worst point across the whole breadth and the whole circumference.
The second one is treating 1 mm as a target. It is the point at which the tyre becomes illegal, not the point at which it stops gripping — wet braking and aquaplaning resistance fall away well before that.
Tyres sit in vehicle controls, and that section is short
The controls section is the smallest of the three and the least forgiving, because a couple of wrong answers is a much larger share of it. Our controls practice is scoped to the licence class you are studying for, and it is free.
Practise vehicle controls freeCommon questions
What is the legal tyre tread depth in South Africa?
1 millimetre. Regulation 212(j)(i) requires a pneumatic tyre to display, throughout, across its breadth and around its entire circumference, a clearly visible pattern with a tread of at least one millimetre in depth.
How is tread depth measured?
At the worst point, not the best. The pattern must be at least 1 mm deep everywhere across the width of the tyre and all the way around it, so a bald strip on one shoulder makes the whole tyre unlawful.
What are the little bars in the tyre grooves?
Tread-depth indicators, moulded to the wear limit. Regulation 212(j)(ii) makes a tyre unlawful once the tread is level with them. Look for a triangle, an arrow or the letters TWI on the tyre's shoulder to find them.
Is a bulge in a tyre illegal?
Yes. Regulation 212(m) prohibits operating a vehicle with a tyre that has a lump or bulge caused by the separation of, or a partial break in, its structure. It means the tyre's internal structure has failed.
How big a cut is allowed in a tyre?
A cut that reaches the cords is unlawful if it exceeds 25 mm or 10 percent of the maximum width of the tyre, whichever is greater. A tyre with the cords already exposed by wear or damage is unlawful regardless.
What tyre pressure does the law require?
None. No inflation pressure appears in the National Road Traffic Regulations or in the Department of Transport's learner-driver manuals. Use the manufacturer's figure for your vehicle, on the placard at the driver's doorpost or in the owner's manual.
Can you fit retreaded tyres?
Not to a motorcycle — regulation 212(h) prohibits it outright. Regulation 212(i) separately prohibits a regrooved tyre with a bead diameter of 430 mm or less on any motor vehicle.
Do the tyre rules apply to a motorcycle?
Yes, and with one extra rule and one variation. Retreads are banned outright, and a motorcycle with an engine of 50 cc or less is measured by coverage instead of depth — a visible tread pattern over at least 80 percent of the full width of the tread.
Sources
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 212"Tyres". Paragraph (j)(i): no person shall operate a motor vehicle fitted with a pneumatic tyre "unless such tyre displays throughout, across its breadth and around its entire circumference, a pattern which is clearly visible, and has a tread of at least one millimetre in depth"; (j)(ii) covers a tyre containing a tread depth indicator, "if the tread is level with the tyre tread depth indicator", with a proviso excluding a motor cycle of 50 cubic centimetres or less and a trailer drawn by a tractor at not more than 40 km/h. Paragraph (k): a motor cycle of 50 cc or less must have a visible tread pattern over at least 80 percent of the full width of the tread at every position. Paragraph (e): a tyre in such disrepair or condition that it may damage the road or be a danger. (f): rubber so worn or damaged that the fabric or cord is exposed. (g): the metal part of the wheel may contact the road. (h): a retreaded tyre on a motor cycle. (i): a regrooved tyre with a bead diameter of 430 mm or less. (l): a break in the fabric, or a cut reaching the cords, exceeding 25 mm or 10 percent of the maximum width of the tyre, whichever is greater. (m): a lump or bulge caused by separation of, or a partial break in, its structure. (a) to (d): metal tyres.
- Amendment history checkedParagraph (j) was substituted by GNR.2116 of 5 October 2001 and amended by GNR.404 of 2007; paragraph (l) was amended by GNR.871 of 2 September 2005. Regulation 212 was NOT amended by GNR.846 of 31 October 2014 — that amendment reaches regulations 213, 215 and 217, so the consolidated text is the text in force. Paragraphs (n) and (o), on minibuses and buses operating under an operating licence, are omitted from this page because the consolidation records their commencement as a date to be determined by the Minister.
- South African Learner Driver Manual, Department of Transport (v1.01, June 2012), Rules of the Road, section 6.61The syllabus version: a light motor vehicle must be fitted with pneumatic tyres which display, throughout, across the breadth and around the entire circumference, a pattern that is clearly visible and has a tread of at least 1 millimetre in depth. It restates the motorcycle rules, including the 80 percent test for engines of 50 cc or less and the ban on retreads.
- A note on tyre pressureThere is no tyre inflation pressure in the National Road Traffic Regulations, in the National Road Traffic Act 93 of 1996, or in any of the Department of Transport's three learner-driver manuals — the only in-cab pressure requirement in the regulations is regulation 156(2), a warning of incorrect air or vacuum pressure on air-braked vehicles, which is a brake provision and not a tyre one. The correct pressure is the vehicle manufacturer's, on the placard fitted to the vehicle. This page states that rather than quoting a figure.
Last updated 2026-09-21.