TyreSafe has once again gained the Prince Michael International Road Safety Award, an accolade that highlights the UK tyre safety charity’s vision of reducing to zero the harm that poorly maintained or illegal tyres cause road users. The award comes at a significant time in TyreSafe’s two decades of campaigning, as the organisation claims to be “undergoing its most progressive strategic shift and growth period.”
TyreSafe has launched its flagship campaign for October’s Tyre Safety Month. Focusing on raising awareness of the role of tyres in ensuring road safety, Tyre Safety Month is a fixture of the road safety calendar, and an opportunity to stress the importance of regular tyre maintenance. This year’s campaign, announced at the TyreSafe Media Briefing earlier this year, TyreSafe is challenging drivers and riders to get ‘Caught in the ACT’, adopting a superhero theme with comic strip inspired visuals to make tyre safety more engaging, helping motorists to see themselves as tyre safety heroes.
UK tyre safety charity TyreSafe has commenced a new partnership with the Institute of Master Tutors of Driving (IMTD). TyreSafe views this collaboration as a further enhancement of its mission to raise awareness of tyre safety, amplifying its impact within the road safety community.
As part of Farm Safety Week, an initiative organised by the Farm Safety Foundation (Yellow Wellies), TyreSafe has introduced a campaign to highlight the significance of thorough tyre maintenance for farmers. The UK tyre safety charity is running the ‘Have a Happy Harvest’ campaign to raise awareness about the importance of inspecting the condition of tyres on all farming vehicles, with the goal of ensuring a smooth and safe harvest season while promoting appropriate agricultural tyre maintenance year-round.
TyreSafe named its 2024 award winners at its annual briefing on 13 June, highlighting its expanded road safety stakeholder connections. In its first in-person briefing since appointing Stuart Lovatt as chair, TyreSafe presented its updated plan to change UK attitudes towards tyre safety. The event detailed October’s Tyre Safety Month, featuring superhero-themed characters promoting the ACT (Air Pressure, Condition, Tread) checklist, and showcased a dynamic calendar aligning with partners such as the National Police Chiefs Council.
Marking the UK’s introduction of the Automated Vehicles Act on 20 May 2024, which means autonomous vehicles could appear on British roads in 2026, road safety organisation TyreSafe has underlined the safety-critical role tyres and regular tyre maintenance will play in maintaining their safety. Studies show that autonomous vehicles could potentially benefit road safety and the economy, but their systems and components must be in good working order to allow them to operate properly. Tyres are the only component on a vehicle which has a direct influence on the performance of a vehicle’s braking, steering and acceleration inputs. If tyres are unroadworthy, the vehicle will not accelerate, brake or steer to its optimum level.
TyreSafe has named the recipients of its 2024 award winners during its annual briefing on 13 June at the National Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham. The briefing included contributions from several sectors within the tyre industry, as well as the broad coalition of road safety stakeholders that has been built by the tyre safety body, emphasising TyreSafe’s mission to ally with other automotive sector organisations to promote vital tyre safety messages. The awards were sponsored by several large tyre manufacturers and distributors, Bridgestone, Continental, Pirelli, Yokohama, Micheldever/Protyre, as well as other members of TyreSafe, such as National Highways, Ring Automotive, and TJA Associates.
UK road safety charity TyreSafe has reminded owners of vehicles emerging from winter storage that there is a heightened risk of tyre degradation for vehicles that have been off the road for an extended period. Typically spring is when vehicles such as trailers, motorcycles, caravans, and motorhomes are taken out of storage, and these vehicles are therefore prone to having tyres that have developed cracks, bulges, or other signs of wear, making them unsafe for road use.
TyreSafe is encouraging electric vehicle drivers to use charging breaks to conduct vital tyre checks. Charging an EV presents a natural opportunity for using the tyre safety organisation’s A.C.T acronym, Air, Condition, Tread, to guide drivers through checks that can be done without specialist equipment. By taking just a few minutes to inspect their tyres, drivers can significantly reduce the risk of accidents and breakdowns. EVs, with their greater, instant torque and heavier loads, can mean tyres are susceptible to wear, making regular checks particularly vital. The latest initiative is part of a partnership between TyreSafe and PCL.
TyreSafe and the National Motorcyclists Council (NMC) have entered a new partnership to promote safe and sustainable biking. The mutual support between the organisations focuses on the need for extra emphasis on vehicle maintenance and a reduction in the number of avoidable defects identified by the rate of motorcycle MOT failures, surprisingly comparable with that of cars; a third fail their first inspection according to DVSA data. Of all the defects leading to an initial MOT failure, the largest proportion of those classified as ‘dangerous’ are tyres at 29 per cent.
A landmark new study by TyreSafe, Imperial College, London, and National Highways has revealed that more than half of tyres replaced in the UK have illegal or borderline tread depth. The tyre safety charity said the eye-opening data underscores the urgent need for increased awareness and action. TyreSafe published the report on tyre maintenance and safety practices among motorists, which is available to download now, ahead of the country’s Road Safety Week.
TyreSafe has partnered with Brake ahead of Road Safety Week 2023 (week commencing 19 November). TyreSafe said the partnership aims to support Brake’s ‘Let’s talk about speed’ campaign, which challenges drivers and passengers to be open about issues related to speeding. TyreSafe describes the week as a significant platform to raise awareness about the critical importance of safe driving practices and the devastating consequences of speeding. Brake’s 2023 campaign highlights the risks associated with driving too fast and on defective tyres.
TyreSafe chair, Stuart Lovatt, has appeared on two episodes of the Driving for Better Business podcast. Lovatt provided a range of tyre safety insights, covering first the impact of tyre safety on fleet managers, and secondly a look at company cars and grey fleet, with tyres for electric vehicles, part-worn tyres and October’s Tyre Safety Month all discussed. Lovatt gave tips on mitigating risk, saving money and staying safe when driving for work. Both episodes are embedded below, or you can access them on the Driving for Better Business website and via various podcast platforms.
A survey of 2,000 UK car owners conducted online by Research Without Barriers on behalf of Bridgestone generated some damning figures for tyre safety. Of the drivers surveyed, 81 per cent admitted to never checking their tyres, and only 14 per cent described them as the most important safety feature on their cars. Other headline statistics from Bridgestone’s research include 54 per cent not knowing that driving on illegal tyres is an extremely dangerous act, only 31 per cent of motorists admitting to being well informed on road safety matters and just 12 per cent checking their tyre treads once a fortnight, the recommended interval between checks. For more on this story, click through to the consumer tyre advice website from the Tyrepress team, WhatTyre.
TyreSafe has held its annual briefing with a slick online presentation designed to demonstrate its direction under a new chair. Presenting contributions from a veritable rollcall of regional and national road safety and risk management stakeholders, chair Stuart Lovatt and TyreSafe manager Jason Simms detailed the last 12 months of TyreSafe’s activities, which have included a tyre safety demonstration day at Mira, the development of new and existing partnerships with road safety organisations such as National Highways, the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS), Roadsafe, and several fire and police service representatives, and a range of events in local communities around the country. Lovatt explained how TyreSafe’s work is of crucial importance to the Safe System Approach, the widely accepted strategy on reducing the number of fatalities, casualties and incidents on Britain’s roads. Emma Burley, Tyresafe communications lead, also introduced the 2023 Tyre Safety Month Campaign, ‘Be Safe and Save’, indicating another way in which TyreSafe is tweaking its approach in 2023. The campaign emphasises how maintaining the good condition of tyres fitted to cars also reduce costs to motorists, a tyre safety message designed to resonate deeply in the cost-of-living crisis. TyreSafe also unveiled its latest national tread depth survey, conducted with the assistance of members at the point of replacement. Before launching into the briefing, Lovatt and Simms also paid tribute to previous chair Stuart Jackson, who stepped down after 14 years at the helm last year, prior to Lovatt’s election.
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