TyreSafe: Past, Present and Future

Tyre safety body TyreSafe has come a long way since its birth as the Tyre Industry Council in 1992. Chairman, Rob Beddis, explains the evolution of the organisation, what it stands for, its achievements to date and its plans for the future.

TyreSafe as an organisation officially took shape in January 2007, with the aim of evolving into the UK’s leading tyre safety industry body. The Tyre Industry Council was originally formed by tyre industry associations with the intention of raising consumer awareness of the dangers of illegal or defective tyres. The original membership comprised the British Rubber Manufacturers Association (BRMA), now the British Tyre Manufacturers Association (BTMA), and the Imported Tyre Manufacturers Association along with support from major tyre retailers.

The Tyre Industry Council’s original campaign focussed on conducting roadside tyre safety checks, with the help of local constabularies. Over a period of 15 years, hundreds of thousands of motorists were given tyre safety advice in the process of the roadside checks, with a worryingly high number of under-inflated or illegal tyres detected. During this time, the organisation established long lasting and unique relationships with government, enforcement agencies and non-governmental organisations such as BRAKE, RoadSafe and the RAC Foundation. In 2001 it was rewarded with the Prince Michael International Road Safety Award for its role in lowering the number of accidents on wet roads by reducing the number of defective and badly worn tyres. TyreSafe is also the first tyre safety organisation to have become a signatory to the European Road Safety Charter, which aims to save 25,000 lives lost on the roads by 2010.

By 2006, the TIC decided that it was time to take a different approach, and widen the organisation’s remit in the process. It was on that basis that TyreSafe was formed, an organisation whose primary objective would be raising awareness of tyre safety issues through targeted media campaigns. The target audience would also expand to include a wider range of vehicles (trucks, motorbikes, off-highway and agricultural vehicles) and therefore a wider audience, encompassing not only individual motorists, but fleet and haulage associations, commercial organisations and local authorities, with the aim of emphasising the importance of ‘duty of care’ to employees. This presented a new challenge in terms of providing engaging information about tyre safety to different audiences groups. The organisation would also be careful to clarify its position as an industry body providing advice and help on current legislation, rather than a political lobbying group.

In terms of the membership of the newly formed TyreSafe, this evolved to include a larger number of individual companies. The current member companies have all worked hard within the industry to raise awareness of tyre safety and actively live the values of the organisation. Associations are still welcomed by TyreSafe and in fact, TyreSafe has recently rewarded the National Tyre Distributors Association (NTDA) for its contribution to improving consumer understanding of tyre safety issues. The new organisation was also reformed to create a practical working structure from which to achieve its new goal of interaction with the media. A board of 14 members was elected (all tyre manufacturers and retailers) including two associate members, and a steering group of five board members was formed to direct the media campaigns in conjunction with TyreSafe’s PR agents. It was important to the board that the structure of the organisation should be transparent and clear to all its members.

As part of TyreSafe’s new drive to reach a broad range of motorists and commercial organisations, a website was established in January 2007 with the aim of providing comprehensive information and advice tailored to different motoring groups including car, motorcycle and caravan. The website has received more than 1.25 million hits in the first 10 months of 2008. The website has encouraged interaction with its readers by adding features such as a poll with multiple choice questions, animated tyre safety guides and most recently a ‘tyre pressure checker’, which was posted during Tyre Safety Month 2008 for motorists to be able to enter their registration number and see what their tyre pressure should be. In addition, a monthly e-newsletter is distributed to 1,200 recipients, including members, various government and not-for-profit organisations as well as members of the general public.

In terms of the future, TyreSafe chairman Rob Beddis envisages TyreSafe as being the first point of reference for anyone requiring information or advice on tyre safety. Already TyreSafe has received international enquiries from as far afield as the US, South America and Asia from interested parties wishing to set up their own tyre safety organisations, who look to TyreSafe as a ‘model of best practice’. Beddis believes that the clarity of TyreSafe’s message is what continues to win them greater consumer confidence, with substantial media coverage achieved across a broad spectrum of publications, such as Auto Express, Plumbers World, Caravan and Camping Club and the Daily Record, covering the key issues surrounding tyre pressure and tread depth. He attributes the growth and success of the organisation to the dynamism, commitment and expertise of the TyreSafe members, who span a wide range of businesses, and believes that it is their ongoing commitment and motivation to communicate TyreSafe’s message that will contribute to improving road safety in the UK.