A quarter of drivers in East Anglia and the North West have never checked the tread depths of their tyres, a new survey shows.
This makes them much more likely to be involved in a tyre-related car accident, according to the road safety group TyreSafe, which conducted the nationwide poll of 1,552 motorists. Drivers in Wales are the UK’s most vigilant, with more than 40% claiming to have checked their tread depths within the last month – the maximum recommended period between inspections.
'Shocking' results.
Tyresafe chairman Stuart Jackson said: ‘Although drivers in East Anglia and the North West showed the greatest levels of neglect with regard to tyre safety, our survey revealed a shocking number of drivers right across the country are failing to take adequate steps which could stop them from being involved in a car accident.
‘Stopping distances in the wet are significantly increased if tyres do not have sufficient tread depth. Without regularly checking tread depth, the only time these drivers realise they are lacking grip may be as they are skidding out of control towards another vehicle.
Under UK law, each tyre must have at least 1.6mm of tread across the central three quarters of its entire circumference. A simple test is to push a 20p piece into the main tread of your tyres. If the outer band of the coin cannot be seen, then the tyres have adequate tread depth. Drivers caught with bald tyres face three penalty points per tyre and fines of up to £2500.
Source: http://www.which.co.uk/news/2009/10/drivers-are-neglecting-their-tyres-survey-shows-186559.jsp