Tyre Safety Month: What’s stopping you?

October is Tyre Safety Month, and for this year’s annual campaign, TyreSafe is asking Britain’s motorists What’s Stopping You? To educate drivers on the importance and benefits of tyre safety, the association has developed what it calls “impactful, and realistic depictions of scenarios involving families, loved ones and young drivers.” It says these will “resonate with a range of audiences and highlight the potential stakes of driving on defective tyres.”

Regular tyre safety checks reduce the risks of an incident while on the roads but TyreSafe estimates that one-in-five drivers have never checked the tread on their tyres, a startling number which rises to one-in-three among young drivers. Checking and maintaining tyres also reduces the cost of motoring as underinflated tyres will wear quicker and cause the vehicle to use more fuel.

The question What’s Stopping You? not only reminds the motorist of the benefits and importance of tyre checks but also carries the literal message that, as the only point of contact between the road and the vehicle, it is tyres which are crucial for safe and effective braking and cornering.

3 elements of basic tyre safety

The campaign incorporates the powerful acronym ‘A.C.T. – Air pressure, Condition, Tread’ to further imprint the three elements of basic tyre safety checks on the driver, as the closing message on each video and a feature on static visuals.

Air Pressure: Correct tyre pressures are shown on a sticker in your car’s door shut, filler cap or in the owner’s manual. Use an accurate pressure gauge to ensure they are right for the load as part of your pre-journey planning

Condition: If stones or other objects caught between grooves in the tread can be removed without damaging the tyre, drivers are advised to do so. Bulges, cracks, cuts and embedded objects are cause for concern and need to be checked by a professional

Tread: If you don’t have access to an accurate tread depth gauge, a 20p coin can be used to see if your tyres’ tread depths are approaching the 1.6mm minimum limit. Insert the 20p at several points across and around each tyre. If you can see the coin’s outer rim at any point the tyre may be illegal and you should seek advice from a professional.

No excuse for ignoring tyre safety

“While we campaign year-round to raise awareness of tyre safety, this October’s Tyre Safety Month campaign is particularly powerful in how is depicts the real risks and high stakes of not regularly checking your tyres,” comments Stuart Jackson, TyreSafe chair. “There really is no excuse for ignoring tyre safety – you’ll help keep yourself, your passengers and other road users safe, particularly as the winter months and more challenging driving conditions approach. Tyre safety checks – what’s stopping you?”

Those wishing to support this year’s campaigns will find a range of assets under the ‘For supporters’ section of tyresafe.org. Materials will include videos and images to be used on social media. Official TyreSafe supporters can access further assets, including customisable print-ready files, via the members’ area. To access this, supporters are asked to complete a registration form which theteam@tyresafe.org will approve. Then they simply use their login details to be able to download the materials, which can be customised with their organisation’s logo.