29th October 2019

How to ensure your tyres are fit for the road

How to get the most from your tyres

Why is it important to ensure that your tyres are in a good condition?

Nothing affects the way your car handles, grips, brakes, and steers more than your tyres. The surface area of the part of the tyre which is in contact with the road at any one time, is only the size of your hand and it is this tiny area which you depend on to safely connect your car with the road. If you think about it, that is a lot of pressure on your tyres.

Regularly maintaining your tyres will help to:

  • Ensure the safety of the driver and passengers
  • Increase efficiency of your vehicle
  • Improve comfort whilst driving

Poorly-maintained tyres could affect your car’s efficiency and performance, as well as having serious safety implications too.

Tyre wear is a physical fact.  When a vehicle is moving, the tread of each of the tyres is constantly rubbing against the road surface.  The increase in tread wear is directly related to the motorist’s driving style as well as other factors.  The severity of wear depends on:

  • the speed at which the vehicle is moving
  • the surface condition of the road
  • the wheel load

Depending on the driving style – economical or high performance – comparable tyres can yield mileage of anywhere between 3,000 and 25,000 miles*.

 

*Continental – “Tyre damage: causes and avoidances”

The first and most obvious place to start when caring for your tyres is to check the tyre wear by ensuring the tread depth is still above the legal limit.

Adequate tyre tread depth is vital for vehicle safety.

Current UK law requires that the tyres fitted to cars and vans must have a minimum tyre tread depth of at least 1.6mm across the central three quarters of the tread and around its entire circumference. Drivers found in breach of this law face a personal fine of up to £2,500 for each illegal tyre and 3 penalty points.

How to check tyre tread depth – the 20p test

The 20p test is a simple, quick and easy way of checking the tyre tread of your vehicle’s wheels. Just take a 20p coin and insert it into the tread grooves on the tyre. If you can’t see the outer band on the coin, your tyres are above the legal limit. However, if you can see the band and that section of the coin is still visible, your tyres could be unsafe and require professional inspection by a mechanic. Drivers should conduct the 20p test every month to check tyre tread depth.

Ensuring that you have tyres with a legal tread depth will give your tyres and car the maximum traction and grip with the road.


Note: vans are particularly vulnerable as their heavier mass means stopping distances are longer than those of cars. Insufficient tread depth can extend stopping distances even further in wet conditions.

It can be incredibly dangerous to drive on bald tyres!

 

Since tyre tread is designed to improve your grip on the road, the lack of tread gives you less grip.  This increases your stopping distance, increases your risk of a blowout, and increases the danger of aquaplaning on wet roads.

If you’re involved in an accident and it’s later revealed that you had bald tyres, your insurer could void your claim and invalidate your policy.  This is because the car would be deemed unroadworthy.

For more information, re: aquaplaning read our Driving in the Rain factsheet.

Tyre pressure can have a significant impact on your car’s steering, handling, braking and mileage. If tyres are under or over inflated, it can increase fuel consumption and make them more susceptible to wear and tear. Even worse, having the wrong pressure can result in a blowout, which can cause you to lose control of the car.

To avoid putting yourself and any passengers in danger or having to call for breakdown assistance, it’s important to make sure that you check your tyre pressure at least every month, including the spare. You should also check the pressure before long journeys or if your car is carrying a heavier load than usual.

You can find out the pressure that your tyres should be inflated to by looking in your vehicle’s manual or by consulting the sticker placed on most vehicles, usually inside the door.

One crucial thing to remember is to check your tyre pressure when they are cold; so before you start a journey or at least 2 hours afterwards to ensure you get correct measurements.

If your vehicle frequently carries loads, it is essential that tyres are inflated to the correct pressure.  When a tyre is under-inflated (or overloaded), excess heat builds within the tyre, which greatly increases the likelihood of experiencing a rapid deflation.  Tyre failure of this nature is a major safety risk.

 

You can easily knock your wheels out of alignment just by bumping into a kerb or hitting a pothole.

For more information read our factsheet on how to protect your vehicle from potholes.

Having your wheels out of alignment can also create problems for your tyres. Incorrectly aligned tyres can result in uneven wear, which can weaken them and make them more prone to damage. It can also reduce the driver’s control of the car and increase fuel consumption.

When you are having your vehicle looked over or having new tyres put on at a garage, make sure the alignment is checked and adjusted if needed.

Tyre Damage

Tyres can become damaged for a variety of reasons, and it can happen without you being immediately aware there’s a problem. The most common types of damage are punctures, cuts, impacts, cracks, bulges and irregular wear.

Be mindful when mounting the kerb

Whether you’re pulling up to park on a busy street or you’re trying to get around an obstacle in the road, sometimes mounting the kerb can be unavoidable. However, it’s important to be mindful when you’re manoeuvring your car in this way – especially if you want to keep your tyres in tip top condition. As well as knocking wheels out of alignment, mounting the kerb can cause the tyre’s sidewall to become pinched between the kerb and the wheel, causing them to weaken and potentially resulting in a tyre blow-out.

Ideally, you should avoid mounting the kerb altogether, but if you have to, make sure you’re careful in your approach. Climb the kerb slowly at an acute angle and ensure you don’t scrape up the side of the pavement to avoid damaging your tyres.

As well as basic maintenance, it’s also important that you practise good driving habits to keep your tyres in top condition. Excessive braking or acceleration while driving, or constantly stopping and starting in traffic, can have a damaging effect on your tyres and cause them to wear more quickly.

Hard cornering transfers much of the car weight to the outside wheels, increasing the load on the tyres, particularly the tread shoulders. Even a slight increase in cornering speed can increase tread wear significantly.

Friction and heat from harsh motoring can lead to distortion, or ridging, of the tread.

Although wear increases with higher speeds, motorway cruising causes less wear to tyres than journeys with more braking and acceleration.

With that in mind, try to drive as smoothly and consistently as possible and avoid excessive speeds, heavy braking and abrupt cornering.  By making sure you are calm when behind the wheel and driving smoothly at all times, you can prolong the shelf life of your tyres.

It’s also important to do a physical check of the tyres and look out for any signs of unusual wear or damage. This can include cuts, bulges or any objects that have punctured the tyre. If you notice any of these problems, you will need to get them checked by a professional mechanic and repaired if necessary. In some cases, the tyre will need to be replaced with a new one.

Overloading your vehicle can be more hazardous than you may at first think. A vehicle that is carrying a lot of weight can compromise the handling and cause excessive wear on the tyres due to excessive heat. This could cause a tyre explosion and put you in danger of having a road accident.

Luckily, most tyres now include a label which will have the tyre load index marked on it. Take care not to exceed the recommended amount.

Whilst being used to delivering loads, the tyres on vans and light commercial vehicles (LCVs) are often driven on rough ground and experience repeated kerb scuffing which can cause levels of damage and wear way beyond that of a car tyre. As a critical vehicle component, it’s important to carry out regular checks on vans of all ages to ensure their tyres remain safe and legal.

Van drivers have a duty of care to ensure their vehicle is safe and roadworthy. Drivers found to be driving on illegal tyres face personal fines of up to £2500 for each illegal tyre plus three penalty points, irrespective of whether the van is company owned or not.

For more information on how to best maintain van tyres, read our Van Tyre and Your Safety factsheet.

As well as the increased risk of road traffic accidents, poorly maintained tyres can often result in vehicle downtime, missed appointments or increased vehicle repair costs.

Carrying out regular tyre checks can prevent these problems, helping to keep drivers safe on the road as well as saving businesses both time and money.