The Bulge in the Nearside Front

No. The vehicle comes off the road now.

Work through each finding:

• The sidewall bulge. This is the decisive defect. A bulge means the internal structure of the sidewall has failed - cords are damaged. Bulges do not improve, they grow, and they fail catastrophically, typically under load at speed with a hot tyre. That is precisely the condition of an airport run.
• The tread readings. The legal minimum is 1.6 mm across the central three-quarters of the tread and around the entire circumference. At 2.8 mm centre the tyre may scrape past the letter of the rule, but 1.4 mm on the outer shoulder shows it is worn and, combined with the bulge, this tyre is not in a condition fit for the use to which it is being put.
• The pressure warning light. Some cause - slow puncture, faulty sensor or a wheel that has been kerbed hard enough to damage the sidewall. It must be investigated, not ignored.
• The MOT. Three weeks of paper validity is irrelevant. An MOT is a snapshot of the day it was tested; it says nothing about today's tyre.

The conclusion: the car must not carry passengers until the tyre is replaced. No amount of paid booking changes a physical fact.

Take it out of service properly, so the decision cannot be quietly reversed.

1. Record it. Photograph the bulge with something for scale, note the tread readings and the time, and write it in the vehicle defect log or text the operator. A written record protects you and shows the council, if asked, that your walk-round works.
2. Notify the operator in writing, not verbally: 'Vehicle off road, nearside front tyre sidewall bulge, do not allocate.' A verbal message to a busy controller gets lost and the car gets sent out with someone else.
3. Get it repaired or recovered. If a space-saver is fitted, it is for a short trip to a tyre bay at no more than 50 mph, not for motorway work and not with passengers on board. If that is not practical, call a tyre fitter out or have the vehicle recovered.
4. Resolve the customer honestly and early. Best option: transfer the 18:00 airport run to another licensed operator with the customer's agreement, and make sure their booking and payment transfer with them. Second best: a car from the workshop at 19:00, if that still gets the customer to the terminal in time - but only if they accept the change.
5. Book the MOT now. Nine days is not much, and a failed MOT in nine days' time would take you off the road for longer than one tyre.
6. Fix the root cause. Where did the bulge come from? Kerbing on a tight turn is the usual answer, and it is worth changing how you take that corner.

Refuse, in writing, and say why in one sentence: 'It's got a sidewall bulge - it's not going anywhere with passengers.'

What is at stake:

• Criminal liability falls on you as the driver. Using a vehicle in a dangerous condition is an offence under section 40A of the Road Traffic Act 1988, and the person using it is liable, not just the operator. A tyre with a structural bulge is dangerous by any reading.
• The insurance question. If you have an incident on a knowingly defective tyre, expect the insurer to look very hard at whether the vehicle was roadworthy. You would be carrying the loss and the injury claim personally.
• Your licence. Councils license drivers and vehicles on fitness and maintenance standards. A collision caused by a defect you had already identified and reported would be treated as a serious failure of judgement, and suspension or revocation is a live possibility.
• The operator's licence too. Operators have maintenance duties; pressure to run a defective vehicle is a matter the council would want to know about.
• The passenger. An airport run is a motorway run at speed with a full load. A blowout there is not a delay, it is an injury.

The professional response is not to argue about MOT dates. It is: report it, record it, refuse it, and put the customer first by finding them another car.