If you drive a car you have a burden of responsibility. Not only is your manner of driving important to your own safety and that of others, so is the condition of your vehicle.
No matter how good a driver you are, if you are driving a car or other vehicle that has safety defects you are putting both yourself and others at risk. It is important to have your vehicle regularly inspected and serviced. This is not only only vital from a safety point of view, it will also help protect your vehicle from undue wear and tear. One of the most common defects found on cars today is defective tyres.
The tyres on your vehicle have a lot of work to do. They don't just support the weight of the vehicle and provide a comfortable ride. Your tyres are the only point of adherence between your vehicle and the road surface. They are responsible for power delivery and applying breaking force to the road. They are also required to endure the cornering force sent from the road surface to the suspension.
The grip your tyre has with the road surface is the only grip your car has to offer, every force you feel within a car is sent to the car through the tyres.
Many people wrongly assume the grip properties of a tyre are from its tread formation. This is actually incorrect. The grip from a tyre is caused by the rubber to road surface contact. If you had a totally bald tyre and a dry road in perfect condition you would have substantially more grip than you would in the same situation with a treaded tyre.
So why do we have treads? The treads are there to allow anything that gets between the tyre and the road surface to be channeled away and allow a good adherence of the rubber to road. A good example of this is water. As the treaded tyre makes contact with the road surface the water is channeled into the treads and allows the top most area of the tread to make good contact with the road. If you where to drive in these conditions without treads the water would create a barrier between the road and tyre and you would have very little grip. This condition is known as aquaplaning.
Your tread should be no less than 1.6mm across the entire of the tread. You can check this using a tool called a "tyre tread gauge". Your tyres also have an early warning system built in. If you look at the tread you will see raised sections within the treaded area. These are called tread ware indicators. If the tread ware indicator is close to or has reached the top of the existing tread them this tyre is on the legal limit.
You should also inspect your sidewalls for damage and seek professional assistance of you are in doubt. Side wall damage can and may occur on the outside, inside or both. Typical serious damage is any visible score of the tread wall that is more than 1mm deep and 25mm long, or any damage that exposes the structural beading of the tyre.
Any damage to the sidewall or tread area that leads to exposed wire or core beading is extremely serious and potentially very dangerous. Because structural components are exposed they are at rink of being damaged further. This can lead to anything from a slow gradual loss of air, to a total rapid disintegration of the tyre.
Looking after your tyres is your responsibility. You should always ensure your tyres are safe, legal and of the correct size and type for your vehicle. If you are in any doubt consult a garage or tyre center.
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
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