Under Pressure

A survey conducted by Continental suggests that Britain’s young drivers are the social group least likely to check their car tyre pressure. The national poll revealed that under-25s are twice as likely to leave their tyres unchecked than any other age group, with almost half (46 per cent) completely unaware what their tyre pressure should be.

One in five of the young people polled had not checked their tyre pressures in the last month compared to the standard across all ages of one in 12. Conti estimates that “an average driver could waste as much as £120 a year on fuel by not regularly checking their tyre pressure.” With this in mind, younger drivers facing high motoring costs with more expensive insurance premiums can not afford to ignore their tyre pressures. For a generally more environmentally aware sector of the public, young people should also be considering that the average car driver could produce an extra 250lbs of CO2 a year by not maintaining their tyre pressures.

Guy Frobisher, marketing director at Continental explains: “The tyres on our cars are arguably the most important part of the vehicle but are very often the most neglected. Not only are poorly inflated tyres potentially unsafe but they can cost the drivers a lot of money.

“There needs to be an increased awareness among younger drivers. It only takes a few minutes to check and correct tyre pressures and it could save hundreds of pounds in fuel bills. In addition, correctly inflated tyres will last longer so they might not need to change them so regularly therefore saving even more money.”