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Under Pressure
(05-05-07) - According to a new survey by Bridgestone UK, almost three quarters of motorists in the UK believe they are driving safely on the roads, when in fact millions are unaware they are putting their lives at risk as well as those of their passengers.
The survey found that 74.7% of drivers believe they have never driven on a unsafe tyre however worringly only a third of those knew the legal minimum tread depth of their tyres. Wiith almost 60% of motorists claiming to have checked their tyre pressures in the last month, only 35% were informed enough to know what they should be checking – leaving 65%, potentially driving on dangerous tyres.
The RAC Foundation and FIA Foundation have teamed up with Bridgestone UK to promote the promote the Think Before You Drive campaign. To help cut down the 34,351 deaths and serious injuries which occur on the UK’s roads every year they have been carrying out free tyre checks across the UK and Europe.
Encouraging all drivers to check their tyres in an effort to reduce accidents, Bridgestone UK’s Managing Director John Mcnaught said, “Since the campaign began, we have carried out tens of thousands of free tyre checks across the UK and Europe...Shockingly, we have found that only 6.5% of vehicles had all four tyres correctly inflated, with at least one in eight cars having at least one tyre significantly under-inflated."
This not only effects safety but the environment as well as John McNaught explains: “By running on under-inflated tyres, we have to replace more than 56 million tyres a year across Europe. More than 40% of us also consume more fuel by running on under-inflated tyres, amounting to more than 18 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.”
Women and teenagers (17-24 year olds) appear to be the worst offenders unaware of what the safe legal and safe tread depth limit is, which is in fact 1.6mm.
If you are caught you could be fined £2,500 for each tyre that is found below the legal tread limit as well as rack up three penalty points on your licence. Potentially if all four are below the limit you could incur fines of £10,000 and be banned from driving.
To research and choose breakdown cover, use the www.breakdownchoices.co.uk breakdown cover comparison and Switching Service.
Source: www.easier.com, www.bridgestone.co.uk