Vredestein UK managing director, Stuart Jackson has become chairman of TyreSafe. According to the tyre safety organisation, he replaced former chairman Rob Beddis as the public face of TyreSafe during February and will continue Beddis’s work in raising awareness among motorists of the importance of well maintained tyres in road safety.
As many as 3.6 million UK motorists could be driving on illegal tyres, according to the latest research. Figures from the National Tyre Distributors Association (NTDA) show that of nearly 60,000 cars checked in January 2009 by retail members, 7,000 were being driven on at least one illegal tyre. Extrapolated across the population, this could amount to 3.6 million cars in the UK whose owners are at risk of causing serious road accidents. The disturbing findings are reflected by another recent survey conducted by TyreSafe, revealing that nearly one in ten motorists expects to spend less on tyres in 2009 compared with last year.
“When you consider that there are over 30 million cars on the UK’s roads, learning that one in ten motorists admits they plan to spend less on tyres shows an alarming lack of awareness among drivers towards their own road safety and the safety of the others,” TyreSafe chairman Rob Beddis commented. “Many tyre dealers have indeed reported that more drivers are letting their tyres run below the legal tread depth before they replace them as they feel the financial pinch. This is a worrying trend which sadly may result in more accidents and road deaths as a result of the loss of grip and longer stopping distances associated with illegal tyres.”
The TyreSafe research reveals that motorists in London are most likely to decrease their spending on tyres in 2009 with one in ten drivers expecting to spend less, while drivers in the East Midlands have the most responsible attitude towards replacing tyres, with less than 3 per cent expecting to spend less on tyres over the coming year.
In the run-up to April’s Bike Tyre Safety Month, TyreSafe is calling on tyre retailers to help raise awareness of the importance of tyres in bike safety. Statistic from VOSA reveal that in 2007/08, defective or illegal tyres was recorded as the fourth most common MoT failure defect. Worryingly, the number of MoT failures attributed to defective tyres has grown year on year for the past three years, increasing from 2.8 per cent of motorcycles tested in 2005/06 to 4.8 per cent in 2007/08. Meanwhile, motorcycle fatality rates remain high, with Department for Transport figures showing that in 2007, 588 motorcyclists died in road traffic accidents, accounting for 20 percent of all fatalities on the road.
Volkswagen Group UK Ltd has become the first vehicle manufacturer to join TyreSafe. The five brands which make up the Group – Audi, SEAT, Škoda, Volkswagen and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles – have become full members and will participate in a series of national campaigns highlighting the importance of tyres in road safety.
“The addition of a vehicle manufacturer to our organisation is an important step forward for TyreSafe,” comments Rob Beddis, chairman, TyreSafe. “As we continually expand and engage with the wider automotive industry, the Volkswagen Group’s extensive experience of dealing with motorists and fleets will be invaluable to future TyreSafe campaigns. We look forward to receiving a fresh perspective and input, helping to reduce the number of accidents caused by defective tyres.”
Tyresafe and the National Tyre Distributors Association have released a message for British skiers driving to their destination of choice this season: make sure your tyres are fit for purpose. Tyresafe says that, when heading to European skiing destinations, motorists should ensure they use correctly inflated tyres with sufficient tread depth to perform on icy, snow-covered roads.
Backing up the organisation’s advice, the NTDA has released a special technical bulletin to provide advice for UK Tyre retailers to pass on to their customers planning to drive across Europe in the coming months. The bulletin will allow dealers to give valuable advice to British motorists, many of whom may be unaware of the guidelines set out by each individual country.
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Road safety association GEM Motoring Assist (GEM) has urged all vehicle manufacturers to include an accurate tyre pressure-measuring device as part of the spare tyre equipment kit supplied with new cars. In voicing this request, the association says that defective or under-inflated tyres were a contributory factor in the death of 43 motorists in 2007 and played a part in nearly 1,000 further accidents.
David Williams, chief executive of GEM, is supporting the work of TyreSafe and the safety organisation’s argument that tyres play a fundamental role in the performance and safe handling of a car. “Many gauges on fuel station forecourts are not accurate and constant use of them could give drivers a false sense of security,” said Williams. “Including an easy to use digital tyre pressure reader as part of the tool kit of any new car with simple instructions of how and when to use it would cost very little to the vehicle manufacturer and be a real safety benefit for the owner.”
Popular motoring columnist “Honest John” has reported on TyreSafe’s recent cold weather tyre advice. “People who do not want to spend their Christmas break sorting out a car insurance claim may benefit from switching to cold weather tyres,” HonestJohn.co.uk’s news section reported.
The reported was based on material originally published by TyreSafe, which highlighted Department for Transport statistics showing that slippery surfaces were a factor in 55 per cent of traffic accidents where the state of the road played a part in 2007.
Vredestein has voiced support for the UK government’s campaign to reduce child road deaths and by introducing a simple yet practical road safety initiative targeted – to begin with – at four schools in the UK. The programme will provide seven and nine years olds with luminous arm straps to help enhance visibility on their way to and from school during winter months.
With Winter upon us TyreSafe is advising motorists to consider fitting cold weather tyres in order to improve road safety. Slippery roads accounted for 55 per cent of road traffic accidents in which road environment was a contributory factor in 2007, according to Department for Transport (DfT) figures. In November 2007, the DfT recorded a spike in personal injury accidents as drivers were caught out by the drop in temperature and increased rainfall, with 16,559 accidents recorded, nearly 700 more accidents than at any other time in the year.
Chris Wakley, founding executive director at Automotive PR, has received a special award from TyreSafe recognising his contribution to tyre safety over the past 15 years. It is only the third time that the award has been conferred. Wakley handled media relations for the Tyre Industry Council since its inception which latterly became TyreSafe. The organisation is the UK’s leading tyre safety body.
The TyreSafe Award was presented by Rob Beddis, chairman of TyreSafe “in recognition of the outstanding contribution to tyre safety”. According to Beddis: “Chris was responsible for developing a very successful series of tyre safety campaigns ranging from regional roadside tyre checks arranged with practically all UK police forces, to tyre safety weeks in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the North East of England.”
Drivers are facing an increased risk of being involved in a serious or even fatal accident by failing to regularly check their tyre pressures. This warning has been issued by UK tyre safety organisation TyreSafe as part of Tyre Safety Month, held throughout October.
“Although the majority of motorists are uninterested in their vehicle’s tyres, it is important to remember that they are a complex component of the vehicle that have been engineered to work in harmony with the vehicle’s sophisticated brake, steering and suspension systems and must be taken seriously,” explains TyreSafe chairman Rob Beddis. “Without regularly ensuring that tyres are correctly inflated, motorists risk compromising the way that their car behaves on the road. The first time they may become aware of this performance deficit could be when they lose control of the vehicle on an innocuous bend and are heading towards a hedgerow or into the path of an oncoming vehicle.”
UK Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems provider Tyresure has joined TyreSafe, the non-profit making organisation set up in 1992 with the responsibility of raising the awareness of the dangers of defective and worn tyres. As such, Tyresure is the first UK TPMS manufacturer to join forces with TyreSafe, and the company’s technology offers an obvious synergy with TyreSafe’s message of safety through correct tyre pressure.
On announcing the partnership, Tyresure UK managing director, Ian Smith looked happy to be part of the TyreSafe team. “’We’re delighted to augment TyreSafe’s message and be part of the push to educate the public into safer driving. Human nature being what it is, we know that this sound advice often falls on deaf ears, with people still rarely checking their tyre pressures. Tyresure does it for you, meaning that once you have set your tyres to the correct pressures, it’s impossible to encounter a problem without getting both a visual and audible warning. It’s hopefully something that even the most apathetic driver can do to make themselves safer.”
Suzuki GB has become the first vehicle manufacturer to pledge support for the 2008 Tyre Safety Month campaign. As part of its commitment to the TyreSafe initiative, until the end of October Suzuki is offering free tyre safety checks at participating dealers in the automaker’s franchised network in the UK.
Tyresafe has given the National Tyre Distributors Association its tyre safety award for the NTDA’s contribution to raising public awareness of the importance of tyre safety. The NTDA was recognised for its contribution British Tyre Manufacturer’s Association (BTMA) Tyre Industry Dinner in Solihull on 26th September 2008. Rob Beddis, chairman of TyreSafe, presented the TyreSafe award to NTDA chairman Peter Gaster. The NTDA says that the award is a tribute to the association’s hard work and commitment to keeping Britain’s motorists safe on the roads.
“The NTDA has made a significant contribution to raising awareness of the importance of tyre safety and are worthy recipients of the TyreSafe award,” said Beddis. “NTDA members have given their full support to Tyre Safety Month, and have also been rigorous in running their own tyre safety campaigns, notably the recent tyre ageing campaign held in conjunction with the RAC Foundation, which reached out to motorists via TV, radio and press to raise awareness of the dangers of driving on over-aged tyres.”
As recent statistics released by TyreSafe testify, many motorists are ignoring their own safety and that of other road users by not checking the condition of the tyres on their vehicle. To help reverse this dangerous situation, in support of Tyre Safety Month all 31 Protyre outlets in the UK will be offering motorists a free five-point tyre safety check. This free offer can be taken advantage of during the entire campaign, which runs until October 31.
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