According to a recent study, more than a quarter of motorists are driving with tyres in dangerous condition.
In early June, over 6,000 tyres on 1,527 vehicles parked at Manchester, Gatwick, and Edinburgh airports were checked. Flyers were left on the windscreens of cars fitted with tyres that showed signs of dangerous or illegal wear and tear, detailing that further action was required.
The research was conducted by Halfords in partnership with NCP. They found that more than 25% of the tyres checked had at least one showing signs of damage, including bulging, cracking, and illegal levels of wear.
Further research estimated that driving with dangerous tyres has led to collisions, resulting in over 7,000 deaths in the UK each year – four times more than drink-driving.
As a result, Halfords has pledged to donate tyre tread depth gauges to UK police forces. They have also called for a law dictating that mechanics working on vehicles with illegal tyres upload the registration plates to a police force database.
Graham Stapleton, chief executive at Halfords, said: “This is the deadly legacy of the cost-of-living crisis. The tyre replacement cycle is a long way behind where it was prior to the pandemic as people continue to struggle with household bills.
“People are making tough choices about how they spend their money and unfortunately, road safety is taking a back seat right now.
“Police forces are very stretched, and officers often don’t have the tools they need to identify tyre defects when they attend incidents.
“As a result, there are many accidents caused by dangerous tyres which don’t get captured in the official statistics.”
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