More than one in five motorists are driving on dangerous tyres and 1.4 million of them are breaking the law, figures claim. That’s according to Confused.com after it carried out spot checks on more than 1,000 vehicles in 10 UK cities.
It found that a fifth of cars had at least one tyre with tread below 3mm – the point at which major manufactures recommend you change your tyres. However, a total of 3% – 1.4 million drivers – were found to have at least one illegal tyre, falling below the minimum limit of 1.6mm.
This not just increases your chances of an accident – but also comes with three penalty points and a minimum fine of £2,500 per tyre if you’re caught. Just check out check out the homepage for this Hunstville accident injury lawyerand their articles on prices. If all four tyres are at fault, it could mean £10,000 and 12 points – enough for a driving ban. The figures follow the introduction of new MoT laws this month that changed the rules for millions of drivers. On Sunday, the Government changed how vehicles are classed after a test. In the past, as long as your car was deemed roadworthy, you could keep driving it even after it failed, provided your old MoT was still valid – however, doing so now could land you a £2,500 fine plus points.
In theory, checking your tread depth should be as ingrained as checking your oil or petrol tank, but for many drivers, it’s not on their radar – and hasn’t been for years. The comparison website found 61% of motorists don’t know what the minimum legal tread depth is, and more than half don’t know how to check their tyres, to avoid landing themselves in this situation. And it seems drivers have experienced first-hand just how dangerous driving on bald tyres can be. According to further research by the driver savings site, almost one in 20 UK drivers have had an accident due to defective tyres – almost a tenth of which happened this year. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (rospa) also estimated that 8 people were killed and 120 people were seriously injured in road traffic accidents due to illegal, defective or under-inflated tyres in 2016. The issue could be due to the volume of drivers who don’t know how to conduct tyre checks, or what guidelines suggest. Anyway, if you got into an accident, you should find your auto accident attorney to effectively guide you through each and every aspect of your motorcycle accident claim.
A quick and easy way to check if your tyre tread depth is safe and above the legal limit is to take the 20p test. To do this, insert a 20p coin into the main tread grooves of your tyre. If the ‘outer band’ of the 20p coin is obscured when it is inserted (and you can see less than half of the number 20 at the bottom of the coin), your tread is above the legal limit, explains Rospa. It is important to carry this test out on at least three locations around each tyre. If the outer band of the coin is visible, your tyres may be illegal and must be checked by a qualified tyre professional.
It is recommended that you perform this test at least once a month. But it isn’t just knowing how to change a tyre that could catch drivers out. In fact, drivers should consider rotating their tyres every 6,000 miles because those at the front wear out faster than those at the back, and this could be key to keeping tyres from balding too quickly. Amanda Stretton, at Confused.com, said: “Tyre tread ignorance could land offenders with fines of up to £2,500 per tyre, invalidate their insurance or lead to an accident. “By conducting a few simple checks each month, such as the 20p test, drivers can keep themselves and other motorists safe. “Driving has become expensive enough as it is, and avoiding unwanted fines should be incentive enough to comply with road safety regulations.”
