03/15/2011

Up to 3.5 million motorists in the UK are driving on illegal tyres, according to new research released this week.

The study of 4,000 road users for Continental Tyres revealed a worrying ignorance of British drivers when it comes to tyre safety with one in 10 drivers running on tyres below the legal minimum tread depth.

Tim Bailey, head of safety for Continental said: ''One in five drivers polled have suffered a blow-out and three-quarters of us understand that low tyre tread depth causes accidents in wet weather yet we still do not recognise the risks we take by not checking and replacing tyres more regularly. People just don’t think about it enough or they don’t know what to look for.”

''It takes less than three minutes to check tyre tread depth and tyre pressure. A new website www.3minmax.com can educate drivers on how to perform simple tyre checks and other guidance on safe motoring.

“Not only will it keep you legal and safe, but motoring costs are reduced if tyres are maintained and properly inflated. In addition, properly maintained tyres will significantly enhance car handling.''

The research revealed that seven in 10 people were clueless about the 1.6mm minimum legal limit of tyre tread.

Whilst a fifth of respondents suspect they are driving on tyres probably below the legal minimum tread depth they have not done anything about it with the majority of motorists being prompted to change tyres only after failing an MOT.

Tim Bailey said “1.6mm is the legal limit, however extensive testing has shown that the effectiveness of tyres drops significantly below 3mm. For example, when braking from 70mph in wet weather a car with 1.6mm of tyre tread will still be travelling at 50mph when the same car with 3mm tread will have already stopped.”

According to the study, only 20 per cent of road users have at least 3mm of tyre tread yet nearly 80 per cent of drivers have noticed the performance and road handling of their car deteriorate when their tyres have become worn.

Tim Bailey for Continental said: “Eight in 10 respondents believe there is not enough information available on how to check tyres and general issues of road safety which underlines the need for this new website and the invaluable advice it can offer.

“Not least because of a third of people polled admitted they were not aware of tyre issues and road safety – a cause for concern and hence something we wanted to address.