Tyre safety is something that everybody knows exists and is highly important yet do not check them regularly enough. There are various elements to consider such as if you have the correct amount of tread depth left across the circumference of the tyre, what the tyre pressure is, if it has any wear and tears and more. If you are ever unsure about your tyres take it straight to a garage who will give them a check over. Same with fitting new tyres it is best to have a professional make sure they are fitted properly.
Having the correct tyre pressure is imperative for various reasons. There can be serious consequences if they are over or under-inflated. If tyres are over-inflated, it will cause only the centre of the tyre to come in contact with the road. This can lead to poor vehicle handling and the tyres will wear out much quicker meaning you have to pay out and buy new tyres.
If the tyre is under-inflated the edges of the tyres will come into contact with the road and not the centre which again causes problems. You will have to provide a bigger force to make the car turn when the tyres are like this and the tyres themselves can overheat causing big problems. Having these fitted will mean you will spend more on petrol also because they have an increased amount of rolling resistance so you will need more fuel to maintain the speed.
Checking the tyre pressure regularly will be beneficial to you for you to save on money and more importantly be safe on the road. Check your vehicle handbook to find the correct tyre pressure that yours should be at. It is not always obvious that the tyres are losing air and they should be checked more during the warmer summer months as this is when they tend to lose the most amount of air. The check of this should be carried out at least once a month and if you know you will be travelling on a long journey then check before this too. Preparation is key and essential to the safety of yourself and any passengers.
Whilst checking and then enforcing that you have the correct pressure you could always carry out the 20p tread depth test too so you can be sure that it is above the legal requirement of 1.6mm across 75% of the tyre circumference.
