Get Ready for Tyre Safety Month

This year during tyre safety month TyreSafe says it will build on last year’s campaign by focusing on family audiences and highlighting the simplicity of checking tyre tread depth with a 20p coin. The organisation is now inviting any interested party, including garages, tyre retailers, fleets and other interested organisations to register their details in order to receive free point of sale materials for the October campaign by visiting the TyreSafe www.tyresafe.org website or by calling the campaign hotline on 0845 301 6852.

“Last year we introduced the 20p test which gives drivers a really quick and simple way to check if their tyre tread is safe and legal,” explains TyreSafe chairman Stuart Jackson. “We received fantastic feedback from the campaign so this year we have developed it further to specifically target families where many still do not realise just how simple and important tread depth checks are.”

Materials available to the trade include a selection of posters for reception and waiting room areas, leaflets, website banner ads and a DVD giving an entertaining guide on how to perform the 20p test. By inserting a 20p coin into the main grooves of a tyre, drivers have a good indication of whether they have sufficient and legal tread depth. If the outer rim of the coin is visible when placed into the main tread grooves, the tyres may be illegal and should be checked by a qualified professional. Current UK law requires drivers to have a minimum of 1.6mm of tread across the central three-quarters of the tyre, around its whole circumference. Drivers failing to meet these requirements face fines of up to £2,500 and three penalty points for each illegal tyre.

“The memory of being stranded in their cars during the bad weather last winter is still very fresh in the minds of many families,” adds Jackson. “Tyre safety month will provide garages with a timely opportunity to remind drivers about how simple and important it is to make sure that their car has sufficient tread depth for the wet weather to come.”

In addition to providing campaign materials to the trade, TyreSafe is encouraging other organisations, particularly those with large fleets, to become involved and promote tyre safety to their own staff and customers.