Tread depth is essential to keep a vehicle in contact with the road in wet conditions and it remains a legal requirement, despite the introduction of a six-month exemption on MoT for Britain’s motorists. TyreSafe is reminding motorists that a tyre being driven below 1.6mm is illegal and if found by the police could result in a fine of up to £2,500 and three-points being added to a driver’s licence – per tyre.
Domino’s Pizza Group is teaming up with TyreSafe to make sure that the ‘Look Who’s Talking’ message promoting during this year’s Tyre Safety Month is something all its staff can easily take away. The UK’s leading pizza brand hosted two consecutive tyre safety days during its Safety Week this month, with the first at the company’s head office in Milton Keynes on 8 October and the second at its supply chain centre in Warrington a day later.
Chelsea FC and shirt partner Yokohama, have created a web-video to help raise awareness of this year’s tyre safety month. Running throughout October when variable weather conditions can make driving particularly treacherous, tyre safety month is encouraging motorists to carry out regular tyre safety checks such as ensuring their tyres are inflated to the correct pressure and they have adequate tread depth.
Micheldever Group won a trio of the annual TyreSafe Awards at this year’s event at St George’s park. Micheldever Tyre Services (MTS) won Wholesaler of the Year for the second consecutive year, while Protyre made it six-in-a-row for the Large Retailer of the Year accolade. The hat-trick was completed by MTS wholesale director Alan Baldwin, who was given the Lifetime Achievement Award ahead of his retirement from the industry later this year.
The Michelin Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) – Bike has been crowned the winner of the Innovation & Use of Technology Award at The TyreSafe Awards ceremony. Designed by Global Michelin licensee Fit2Go TPMS, the product was launched onto the European market in January 2019 – introducing new levels of safety for riders, for whom tyre condition is critical.
The Motor Ombudsman won the 2019 TyreSafe Online and Social Media award. The tyre safety charity’s annual prize giving ceremony, which was recently held at Staffordshire’s St George’s Park, the home of the National Football Centre, acknowledges businesses and individuals, across eleven different categories, who have made a significant contribution to raising awareness about tyre safety-related issues during the past 12 mo
Recent convictions of retailers across the UK highlight the potential risks unsuspecting motorists take when buying part worn tyres. These cases in Scotland and London followed investigations by Trading Standards and TyreSafe into the sale of dangerous and illegal tyres. In each instance, the retailers faced stiff penalties and fines totalling thousands of pounds.
European lighting and automotive aftermarket specialist, Ring has become a supporter of TyreSafe. Ring will help spread the key messages of TyreSafe’s campaigns and support the charity in its ongoing awareness raising. The company supplies a tyre safety kit for motorists, including award-winning tyre inflators, tread depth and pressure gauges and emergency sealants.
A new online tyre price comparison service has launched, aiming to provide UK motorists with an online tool to choose their tyres quickly and easily, and bringing together products from a wide variety of retail businesses. Motokiki’s comparison engine is designed to offer an impartial whole of market price comparison of tyres from a broad range of suppliers, as well as tyre label result comparison, and the location in which they can be fitted. The company initially comprises 20 staff in offices a short walk from Port Talbot railway station, working on the technical development and marketing of the website, with other aspects of the business outsourced to teams around the country, such as its London-based communications agency, FWD Consulting. Tyres & Accessories travelled to south Wales in late November to attend the launch, with Maven Capital Partners (“Maven”) and the Development Bank of Wales, which have collectively made an equity investment of £3 million in the company, also represented.
The European Union is advancing plans to broader the coverage of type approval provisions that mandate the installation of tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) in new vehicles. For some time the type approval rules have required that TPMS is fitted in new passenger cars, but some arguably borderline vehicles such as SUVs and pickup trucks have been exempt from the rules.
UK charity TyreSafe has launched a new awareness campaign aimed at “parent chauffeurs.” Noting the statistic that parents are likely to have spent more than 3,000 hours (around 125 days non-stop motoring) driving their children around by the time they reach 20, the Home Safely on Safe Tyres campaign highlights the importance of tyres in minimising the risks to drivers and their young passengers while on the roads. It also emphasises to all drivers entrusted with child care that it is their responsibility to check the condition of their car’s tyres.
Goodyear supported October’s Tyre Safety Month by checking the tyre treads of more than 850 vehicles on Birmingham Business Park, supported by local tyre and autocare centre, HiQ Easy Autos. A team of eight trained Goodyear and HiQ Easy Autos employees took to the car parks of several businesses on the park including Rolls Royce, Arval, Adecco and SSP to measure the tread depths on vehicles, leaving an advice leaflet on every car checked.
