Poorly maintained tyres remain a massive problem that leads to countless accidents on South African roads every year.
Darren Hayes-Powell, chairman of the South African Tyre Manufacturing Conference (SATMC) has provided tips to help prevent this and explain all you need to know about tyres. “Tyres are often overlooked in favour of other road safety messages, however, tyres are a very important factor in avoiding an accident as they are your car’s only point of contact with the road,” he explained.
Tyres can be expensive to replace, and unfortunately, many people believe they can go another few kilometres before changing them. A report conducted by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) found that blowouts and smooth tyres together counted for 80.3 per cent of all car accidents caused by mechanical failures. The RTMC investigation found that faulty steering (2.9 per cent), faulty brakes (4 per cent), smooth tyres (7 per cent) and tyre blowouts (73.3 per cent) were the main factors for mechanical failures leading to car accidents. “If you weren’t certain before, these statistics show us just how important tyres are to our overall vehicle safety.”
As the festive season approaches, when road usage is at an all-time high, the SATMC is calling on all motorists to check their tyres and to keep our roads safe.
Here is a list of tyre checks to help prevent an accident this December:
- Check your tyre condition regularly: Punctures, bulges and cuts will drastically affect the quality of your driving.
- Check your spare tyre regularly: While the tyres on our car are easy to remember to check because we can see them, an incorrectly inflated or damaged spare tyre could be devastating in an emergency.
- Check your tyre pressure bi-weekly: Incorrect inflation affects steering, acceleration, braking and can increase the risk of a blowout tyre. Check your tyre pressure to be sure your tyres aren’t at risk of a blowout.
- Check your tyres’ tread wear indicator (TWI) once a month: These little rubber inserts help motorists visually compare their tread depth to the legal minimum tread depth of 1.6 mm. Once tyre tread and TWIs are level, it’s time for new tyres as poor tread leads to increased braking distances and skidding, especially in wet weather.
- Check your wheel alignment every 10 000 km or at least once a year: Poorly aligned tyres wear out faster. Be sure that you check your wheel alignment to avoid rapid deterioration of poorly aligned tyres.
“The holidays are a time for rest, more time to spend with the people we love and for having fun. Let us keep every road user’s life safe by checking our tyres today,” concluded Hayes-Powell.
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