Tyre Safety Month

By Lewis on 5th October 2016 - View Comments

How often do you check your tyres? Every week? Every month? Or so long ago you can’t remember? When was the last time you checked your tyres?

October is Tyre Safety Month, the annual campaign organised by TyreSafe which aims to highlight to drivers the importance of making regular tyre checks, not just during the month of October but all year round.

Tyre Safety Month exists because not enough drivers are checking their tyres as often as they should be. Afterall, your tyres are the only part of the vehicle that make contact with the road and roadworthy tyres are crucial to both your safety and that of fellow road users.

Air pressure
Always make sure your tyre pressure is at the correct level. Check the recommended tyre pressure for your vehicle which can be found in your vehicle handbook. It is often also printed in the driver’s door jamb.

Condition
Check your tyres for any signs of irregular wear or damage such as lumps, cuts and bulges. Make sure you also check the tyre sidewall as not all damage occurs in the tread area.

Tread Depth
Make sure your tyres have adequate tread remaining around the complete circumference of the tyre. The legal limit for minimum depth of the tread on car tyres is 1.6mm across the central ¾ of the tyre tread. However, tyre performance will gradually deteriorate before reaching this limit – at 1.6 millimetres in wet weather it takes almost 40 per cent further to stop at 50 mph than it does at 7mm**. This is equivalent to 8 car lengths of reduced stopping distance.

Not only do illegal tyres leave you at risk of three penalty points and up to £2,500 in fines should you be stopped by the police, but even more importantly, they can seriously compromise your vehicle’s safety and handling.

As the weather turns colder and wetter this October, remember to check your tyres and ask yourself: when was the last time you did it?..

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