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Return Your Bike to the Road Safely, Urges TyreSafe

Spring is, believe it or not, just around the corner, and many seasonal riders will soon be pulling the wraps off their beloved machines. And while the urge to get back out on the road may be strong, TyreSafe reminds owners that months of inactivity can pose added dangers for motorcyclists.

Tyres may become under-inflated and, particularly if the bike has not been adequately sheltered from the elements, will be subject to “dry rotting” or “cracking.” As tyre damage is, TyreSafe points out, one of the most common causes of breakdown, the safety organisation has released the following tips to keep riders on the road this Spring:

18th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Download Free Bike Tyre Safety Month Posters

Following the announce that TyreSafe is promoting a tyre safety campaign aimed at bikers, tyre dealers are now being encouraged to get involved. TyreSafe are offering free posters for interested parties to download at www.tyresafe.org/bikesafety. Dealers have the option of choosing one or all four of the free checks by displaying the posters on their premises. A free leaflet with further details about motorcycle tyre safety is also available. “By doing this, [dealers] will be promoting a vital safety message, increasing the overall effectiveness of the campaign and benefiting from the increased footfall from customers responding to the offer,” TyreSafe representatives told Tyres & Accessories.

14th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

TyreSafe Welcomes Toyo to its Ranks

Toyo Tyres (UK) has become the latest tyre company in the UK to pledge support to TyreSafe. The company adds its name to a growing list of organisations from both within and outside the tyre industry to sign up to support the organisation’s tyre safety activities.

“We have been impressed with the impact that TyreSafe has had in the area of tyre safety – an area important to the Toyo sales & marketing programme. And so we felt that we should offer our own help and support to raising the awareness of this vital road safety subject”, said Martin Sutherland, Toyo Tyre’s general manager – Sales.

5th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

TyreSafe to Run Bike Tyre Safety Month

For the first time, TyreSafe is mounting a tyre safety campaign throughout the month of March to highlight the dangers of defective or badly worn tyres on motorcycles and scooters. TyreSafe has already received support for its initiative from BikeSafe, the UK police force road safety campaign, which will culminate in a major bike safety show to be held at the police training centre in Hendon, North London, during the last week of March. TyreSafe is also hoping to gain support for the campaign from trade associations within the motorcycle industry.

5th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Potholes Endangering Lives

The latest statistics show that 12 per cent or 120,000 out of all of the UK’s one million potholes are not being filled by local councils, which means that repair bills are now soaring every year because of the lack of maintenance by government authorities. Since 1996, the number of claims has soared by 78 per cent in London alone, by 42 per cent in England and by 70 per cent in Wales. TyreSafe recommends that one method of reducing damage to tyres caused by potholes is to maintain them at the levels of pressure recommended by the vehicle manufacturer. If any level of damage is suspected, motorists should visit their nearest dealer or tyre retailer for their tyres to be examined for any faults.

30th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyre Pressure & Tread Depth Neglected in Winter – TyreSafe

TyreSafe has marked the post New Year return to work, and the daily commute, by issuing another warning about the importance of regularly checking tyre pressure and tread depth. The organisation’s latest report quotes disturbing figures from surveys conducted by vehicle supermarket Motorpoint, which indicates more than 50 per cent of drivers fail to regularly check their tyre pressure before embarking on a journey, and by carmaker Kia, which found that one in three drivers failed to check their tread depth even monthly during the 2007 winter season.

8th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

TyreSafe Publishes Cold Weather Information

The incidence of car accidents on wet roads during winter months in the UK leaps by a staggering 267 per cent, according to DfT figures. In response, TyreSafe is providing information on cold weather tyres. TyreSafe recommends that UK drivers visit their local fast fit dealer or independent tyre retailer to discuss the option of fitting cold weather tyres for winter months. Cold weather tyres have been developed by most large tyre manufacturers and whilst the market for this type of tyre in the UK is currently small (less than one per cent of the total UK replacement market), cold weather tyres are becoming increasingly popular across the rest of Europe.

3rd January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Fisherman Hooks TyreSafe Ipod

Scottish prawn fisherman has been named as the first prize draw winner of the TyreSafe Tyre Safety Month competition for a £200 Apple iPod mp3 player. Over 6,000 members of the public logged on to the TyreSafe website during the campaign to check their tyre pressures and enter the competition. Campbell Murray, from Moray Firth, was the lucky winner independently drawn at the BTMA (British Tyre Manufacturers Association) offices in London last week. “What a lovely surprise”, said Campbell, ”I do not normally enter competitions, but now I am hooked!”

The TyreSafe Tyre Safety Month in October was, according to the organisation, one of the most successful campaigns organised by the tyre industry, being read by over 12 million consumers and motorists in the UK.

30th November 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

New Members Join TyreSafe

Tyre distributor, Yokohama H.P.T. Limited, tyre wholesaler, Group Tyre (UK) Limited and the manufacturer of tyre inflation equipment, Pneumatic Components Limited (PCL), have all agreed to become TyreSafe supporters in 2008, joining the original 14 tyre companies and retailers responsible for forming the organisation at the start of this year.

“We have achieved a great deal in our first year of activity,” said TyreSafe chairman Rob Beddis. “I welcome our new supporters who will, I am sure, make a valuable contribution to the work of TyreSafe in the coming year.”

28th November 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin to Sponsor Inaugural Road Safety Expo

Michelin has extended its comprehensive road safety programmes to include sponsorship of the first ever UK Road Safety Expo, which takes place in London on 22 November. Road Safety Expo ’07 is a new event combining a conference and exhibition designed to highlight the latest developments in technology and the future strategy for road safety educational campaigns.

Jim Fitzpatrick, MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary with responsibility for road safety will deliver the keynote speech and other speakers will represent all major road safety campaigns, including Think! and Roadsafe.

23rd October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

New Tests Show Need for Greater Minimum Tread Depth

(Akron/Tire Review) Consumer Reports magazine has added its voice to the growing international call for a 4/32nds (3.175mm) minimum tread depth level. Tire Review magazine in North America, Tyresafe in the UK and some tyremakers in Europe have pushed for the tyre industry and national and local governments to adopt new minimum tread depth standards to improve driver safety and reduce lost traction accidents and accident-related deaths.

In its November issue, Consumer Reports stated that the well-accepted “penny test” consumers have been taught to use to check tread depth is inadequate.

“It has long been the standard that tyres are worn out when their tread depth reaches 1/16-inch (or 2/32-inch as found on standardised tread-depth gauges),” CR wrote. “The easiest way to measure this, if you didn’t have a gauge, was to hold a penny upside down in the tread. If the top of Lincoln’s head was visible, you needed new tyres.

18th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Auto Express Receives Tyre Safety Award

Weekly motoring magazine Auto Express has received a special award from TyreSafe in recognition of the publication’s consistent commitment to raising awareness of the importance of tyre safety. Receiving the award from TyreSafe chairman Rob Beddis at the Rubber Industry Dinner in Birmingham on October 5, Auto Express news and features editor Mat Watson said he was delighted to receive the award on behalf of the magazine and thanked TyreSafe and the tyre companies for their assistance in providing material enabling them to further promote to their readers information related to the safe use of tyres.

17th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

TyreSafe Urges Women to ‘Better Handle Pressure’

Women hate being told that they are no good at looking after their cars, says TyreSafe. And yes, it is a stereotype, and of course it does not apply to all women, but a recent survey has shown that 21 percent of women do not – to use TyreSafe’s own words – “have a clue” about the correct tyre pressure for their car, preferring to get someone else to check their tyres for them.

This is one of the worrying findings of the largest ever tyre pressure and tyre safety survey undertaken in the UK, carried out by TyreSafe supporters to coincide with Tyre Safety Month. The face of the campaign, Vicki Butler-Henderson – a woman very much at home checking the pressure of her tyres – commented that “Drivers are clearly not aware of the dangers of driving a car with severely under-inflated tyres. I have recently been testing a car with tyres at low pressures and badly worn and the combination is potentially deadly.”

12th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Norwich Union Supports Tyre Safety Month, 3mm Campaign

The UK’s insurance services provider, Norwich Union, has leant its support to the TyreSafe-initiated Tyre Safety Month campaign. As part of its press release aimed at raising awareness of winter driving campaign, Norwich Union also promoted 3mm tread depth. The insurer quoted research conducted by MIRA Ltd that shows that tyres with a 3mm tread have 25 per cent better performance than those at the legal minimum of 1.6mm.

11th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Vicki Gets into Gear for Tyre Safety

UK online tyre retailer etyres has teamed up with Vicki Butler-Henderson – the face of Tyre Safety Month – to produce two tyre safety videos showing the dangers of driving on worn tyres. Both are now available to view on the eTyres website www.etyres.co.uk or through the TyreSafe website, www.tyresafe.org.

The dramatic videos, which were shot at the Motor Industry Research Association in Nuneaton, clearly and graphically depict how dangerous braking in the wet can be in a vehicle fitted with worn tyres. As Vicki says in the video, stopping on a wet road with 1.6mm tread can extend the braking distance by 8 metres compared with new tyres!

Research by TyreSafe has also shown that almost three quarters of all cars on the UK’s roads have tyres that are under-inflated, and during Tyre Safety Month the organisation seeks to hit home the message that vehicle handling can be adversely affected by under-inflated tyres, leading to a potential accident.

5th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors