TyreSafe has unveiled the theme for the 2016 Tyre Safety Month, which takes place during October.
‘Don’t chance it, Check it’ is designed to encourage motorists to check their tyres on a regular basis to reduce the risk of an incident.
Research published by TyreSafe suggests that more than 10m motorists in the UK could be driving a vehicle with an illegal tyre.
Working in partnership with Highways England, TyreSafe examined 340,000 replaced tyres – with 27.3% found to be illegal at the point of replacement.
The not-for-profit tyre safety awareness organisation has published campaign materials and resources ahead of the annual event, including posters, leaflets, online banners and an animation.
TyreSafe has also developed a 360-degree film which shows the difference in braking distances in wet conditions between a car equipped with new tyres and another with tread depth below the legal limit of 1.6mm.
Using a smartphone, viewers can turn their heads to see all the action in front, to the side, above or even behind them, giving an ‘immersive’ experience.
Stuart Jackson, chairman of TyreSafe, said: “The need for the annual Tyre Safety Month campaign in October has once again been underlined by the evidence.
“The second phase of the survey of tyre tread depth at the point of replacement in partnership with Highways England has confirmed the findings of the first phase, in that more than one-in-four British motorists are replacing their tyres when they were already illegal. In 2016, that equates to potentially over 10 million illegal and dangerous tyres on Britain’s roads.
“In combination with the number of casualties resulting from tyre-related incidents, the MoT failure rate due to defective tyres, and surveys of British motorists’ awareness of tyre safety issues, there is unquestionable evidence that attitudes need to change.
“TyreSafe’s message is clear: when it comes to reducing the risk of a tyre-related incident – Don’t chance it, Check it.”
Road safety stakeholders wishing to order materials can find them on the Tyre Safety Month 2016 microsite. All resources can be dual-branded.
If a tyre blows out or immediately deflates whilst the vehicle is on the road and it’s a front wheel tyre then I believe we would know more about it. Tyres can be the cause of incidents and collisions but before that it’s the neglegence of others that actually contribute to it.
Police stats rarely show poor tyre maintenance as a cause or indeed a contributary factor of a collision or incidents.
Years ago retreaded or refurbished tyres were openly sold on the market and the quality of those tyres was felt to be inferior. However over the last 10 years things have apparently improved with a standard that has been adopted by manufacturers of such tyres. Apparently they are now considered just as good as a normal non retreaded tyre. That said I still believe that some of the imported tyres are not necessarily built to our regs and as such may give worse service and safety. I know that braking distances have been shown to be poor by comparison to those tyres manufactured to British standards.
R.Craven Blackpool
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I don’t think tyres in themselves cause incidents to happen – the driver has to have done something to provoke an incident. In normal, uneventful driving, the tyre condition is not that critical, however if you are braking as hard a possible, or trying to suddenly and sharply steer at speed, then the tyres’ condition will be important – but then so would other mechanical aspects of the vehicle, not to mention the condition of the c/way. In other words, everything’s fine until you try and make the vehicle depart suddenly from it’s natural course or otherwise try and alter the natural balance and dynamics of the vehicle. Moral? – don’t put yourself in that situation – good tyres or not!
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
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