UK and Ireland Europe’s Top Tyre Safety Offenders

The UK and Ireland are reportedly Europe’s worst offenders when it comes to driving with dangerous tyres. That’s the verdict of tyre manufacturer Michelin, which is embarking on its sixth year of running Fill Up With Air, a European tyre safety campaign. Based on checks of 50,000 cars across 27 countries, only Latvia, Greece, Lithuania and Estonia have a worse record with Austria and Germany being consistently the most safety conscious. Out of 5,000 UK cars surveyed by Michelin in 2007/08, more than 43 per cent were found to have “dangerously” under-inflated tyres, risking an accident. (For the purposes of this campaign dangerous means between 8 and 14 psi off recommend pressures).

Motoring journalist Vicki Butler-Henderson, who is promoting the campaign, said: “Tyres are the only contact a vehicle has with the road and it always amazes me how little care we take as a nation in terms of looking after them. We have to remember that cars are potential lethal weapons and it is our duty to ensure that we make them as safe as possible and minimise the risk of potentially lethal accidents.”

For 2009 Michelin has collated the statistics gathered over the last six years to compile a picture of tyre safety in the UK and across Europe. Interestingly 27 per cent of cars checked in Liverpool were found to be driving with punctures. The most tyre conscious region is said to East Anglia with 10 per cent of the population checking tyre pressure once a week

Michelin’s head of communications, Peter Snelling, said: “On the continent, drivers far more aware of the importance of their tyres. They have respect for their vehicles and are fully aware of the safety implications of using unsuitable or incorrectly maintained tyres, something we seem to happily ignore in this country, until it’s too late.”

Fill Up With Air will be taking to the roads this summer and visiting more than 45 locations across the UK and Ireland. In order to promoted the event Vicki Butler Henderson’s has produced this top tyre safety tips video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4nHaRkVRHQ