Surrey mechanic urges people to check their tyres are road safe
It follows new data from the National Highway about incidents related to unsafe tyres
A Surrey mechanic is urging people to check that they have road legal tyres following new statistics.
The figures released today by the National Highway state the following:
- Six million tyres on UK roads are illegal which is equivalent to roughly one in four vehicles.
- In 2023, 190 people were killed or seriously injured due to defective tyres- a figure comparable to the dangers associated with using a mobile phone while driving.
- In 2024, there were more than 53,000 tyre related breakdowns on our motorways and major A-roads- 19% of all recorded breakdowns.
As colder temperatures and darker evenings set in, National Highways is urging drivers to check their tyres as part of its seasonal T.R.I.P. campaign, encouraging everyone to do the following before setting off
- Top-up
- Rest
- Inspect
- Prepare
More than a fifth of drivers who broke down on a long motorway journey believe it could have been avoided with proper tyre checks before setting off.
The campaign will run throughout October and into November, with National Highways sharing social media content to help bring the issue to life while supporting TyreSafe's month of activity.
Joe, who runs a repair shop in Epsom called Joe's Repair Shop, says that he thinks people underestimate the importance of having road safe tyres
"I think they definitely underestimate the dangers, obviously with bald tyres, your braking distance is much longer, and if you have a split you could have a blow out"
He emphasised that there wasn't a grey area when it comes to making sure tyres are road safe.
"Tires are one of the critical things on the car. Obviously, tires, brakes and suspension. If your tires are illegal, they need to be replaced. They need to be legal on the car. There's no grey area about it. It's got to be legal."