Tyre Safety Tips
Here’s how to find your nearest [FOXY Lady Approved female friendly garages and tyre centres].
The following tyre safety tips have been written by FOXY Founder Steph Savill with women drivers in mind.
“I first set up FOXY Lady Drivers Club to help women steer clear of bad garages because I knew from experience that shoddy car services mean that vehicles can be unsafe, not just for their drivers and passengers but also for other drivers, cyclists and pedestrians who could be involved in an accident.”
“FOXY Lady Approved garages now tell me too many stories about motorists, including women, driving cars with illegal ie dangerous car tyres for me to be able to turn a blind eye here.
“I make no excuses for the bluntness of my tyre safety tips below – dangerous tyres can and do kill.
“Only the vehicle owner/driver can be held responsible for the safe condition of the cars they drive, not their husband or partner they might think is checking them for them.
“So here are some important tips to help you and yours stay wiser and safer on our roads.”
- Tyres are the NUMBER ONE CRITICAL SAFETY component and a contributory factor in more than one in three vehicle accidents where somebody has been killed or seriously injured. There is simply no excuse for the dangerous (illegal) tyres we see across our garage network. They will let you down when you need them most, not just in wet weather, causing accidents and injuries to pedestrians and other motorists as well as yourself and your car passengers.
- There are no excuses for dangerous tyres. Please don’t think that ‘I’ve been too busy’ or ‘my husband/partner does this for me’ will help you sleep at night if you cause a serious accident because of your car’s dangerous tyres. Ignorance will not help you escape a big fine either.
- If you want to DIY and check your own tyres, use a 20p coin to check if your tyres are legal. It’s easy. Here’s how to do this.
- If you’d rather ask the professionals re: tyre pressures or tread (your tyres should be no less than 1.6mm ie the depth of a 20p coin rim) and need replacing ask a FOXY Lady Approved garage to give them a once over fitness check and/or fit new tyres for you.
- Remember that the age of tyres matters too. Rubber degrades whether used or not. Look for the date of the tyre on the rim; for example a tyre dated 4711 means that tyre was manufactured during the 47th week in 2011. Industry advice is to replace tyres after 5 years but by all means ask tyre professionals for their advice here. This means checking the date of tyres on a used car you’re considering buying or new tyres just fitted in case they’ve been sitting on a garage shelf for years…
- Check your tyre pressures monthly at least. If you drive a lot, check them more often. Remember to check your spare tyre pressure too if you have one.
- If you don’t know your tyre pressures or don’t have a spare tyre, be sure to read your car handbook about this and know, in advance, what to do if you get a puncture or a warning about run flat tyres. Ignorance is no excuse. And make sure you know where your wheel nut key is at all times.
- Do not attempt to change your own car wheel without training or practice. A lady who did this recently didn’t fit the jack correctly and had the car fall on her legs. If need be, ask a known expert to do this for you. Where in doubt and a club member ask FOXY Helpdesk for advice.
- Make sure you have current breakdown cover and a topped up mobile phone at all times.
- Look out for local garages or dealerships that organise car maintenance events in your area. They will usually include sessions to show you how to change a wheel. You may never need to do this for yourself, but if you ever found yourself in the middle of nowhere, at night, without a mobile signal… you’d be able to make a safe fist of getting yourself going again.
- My advice? THREE key points. Firstly, start shopping for tyre deals when your tyre tread is 3mm not 1.6mm. The more the tread, the shorter the stopping distance therefore the safer the tyres. Secondly, ALWAYS buy the best tyres you can afford and last, but by no means least, NEVER buy part worn tyres because you don’t know where they’ve been/what’s happened to them.”
To contact me direct about any of this, please email info@FOXYLadyDrivers.com.
Steph Savill
FOXY Founder