Road Safety Week

An estimated 6 million tyres on the road have illegal tread, according to TyreSafe’s recent Tread Depth survey, meaning many drivers risk three penalty points and a fine, which can be up to a maximum of £2,500, for each defective or illegal tyre. As well as the risks posed by illegal tread on tyres, almost 542,287 drivers are just two tyres away from an automatic driving ban and almost 100,000 who have nine points are just a single tyre away, according to a recent IAM RoadSmart report. These numbers have risen recently – the number of drivers with nine points on their licence has risen 8 per cent in the last year – indicating an urgent need for drivers to pay closer attention to road safety both in their driving behaviour and attention to vehicle maintenance.

TyreSafe, the UK tyre safety charity, has partnered with road safety charity, Brake for Road Safety Week 2023. TyreSafe said the partnership aims to support Brake’s ‘Let’s talk about speed’ campaign. It focuses on demystifying and challenging drivers and passengers to be open and honest about issues related to speeding. The national Road Safety Week campaign began on 19 November. TyreSafe describes it as a significant platform to raise awareness about the critical importance of safe driving practices and the devastating consequences of speeding. Brake’s 2023 campaign highlights the serious and very real hazards and risks associated with driving too fast and on defective tyres.

With more than 300 laws in the highway code, it is likely that some drivers may be breaking the law without knowing it, a new survey by Click4reg.co.uk suggests. The website quizzed 2,192 British drivers on some of the more unusual rules of the road, with some surprising results.

Illegal, defective or under-inflated tyres caused 2,288 British car accidents between 2014 and 2018. Marking Road Safety Week (18-24 November), British technology firm and Michelin licensee Fit2Go TPMS reckons its Michelin Pressure Checker gadget could help to significantly cut those figures.