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A NEW SURVEY has revealed that one in six cars driving on Irish roads has tyres that are at or below the minimum legal tread depth.
The survey of over 300 cars at Maxol outlets in Donegal, Dublin, Kildare and Mayo, carried out by Continental Tyres, covered both tread depth and whether the tyres were inflated to the correct air pressure.
It found that 16.7 per cent were at or below the legal depth limit of 1.6mm. Independent tests have shown that cars driving on tyres at the 1.6mm legal tread limit demonstrate a dangerous lack of control in cornering and seriously increased stopping distances on both dry and wet roads.
The optimum recommended time to replace tyres is when they reach 3mm with tests showing that once the tread drops below this, performance drops off sharply.
Tom Dennigan of Continental Tyres Ireland said the results of the survey were “shocking”.
“We know that in the current economic climate, motorists have been cutting back on their motoring expenses and some may have been tempted to push their tyres to the limit,” he said. “However, as your only contact with the road, tyres are such a critical element of your car’s overall performance, so our advice is don’t gamble with your family’s safety by neglecting your tyres.”
The survey showed that almost half of the cars tested had at least one tyre that was at or below 3mm and 53 per cent were found to be on tyres with incorrect pressure. In the vast majority of cases they were under-inflated and 41 per cent of cars with incorrect pressure were found to be dangerously inflated.
“Incorrect tyre pressure can affect your vehicle’s handling, overall safety, fuel economy and ride comfort, and it is such an easy thing to get right with the correct pressure information printed on the vehicle itself and in the manual,” Dennigan added.
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I can’t be the only person who has trouble finding a filling station with a working air pump and gauge? They’ll spend a fortune on rebuilding their kwik-e-mart, but still leave the old “services” stand rust away.
Agree. In the UK you are pretty much guaranteed working air compressor, here is is very hit and miss. It should be a requirement in the interests of safety for garages to supply working air compression.
Some garages charge for the air we use in tyres €1 in finglas at the topaz garage some garages refund your € back as it has not being damaged
On if you find one that’s working, somebody’s parked in the bay!
“Survey … carried out by Continental Tyres…”
Wow! That was really very kind of !!CONTINENTAL TYRES!! to provide such an act of kindness to the Irish motorist.
Free advertising masquerading as a news story, more like!
Glad someone said it.
Bridgestone came out with the same crap during the bad 2010 winter saying people shouldnt use winter tyres.. but its ok to use their brand of all weather tyre..
Doesn’t matter who sponsored it as long everybody who reads it thinks to check their tyres next time they go to get behind the wheel.
A lot of bad tyres are due to bad roads. Just as well our roads don’t have to pass a test similar to an NCT for cars, a lot of motorists wouldn’t be able to leave their own driveways.
Here’s the adebasic’s of tyre management.
1)If your car pulls to the one side, one or more tyres need air.
2)If your wheel shakes at speed (50/60/70 mph) its your wheel balance
3)If your steering wheel shakes at low speeds, its down to have 1 or more bad tyres.
4)If your steering wheel is not straight but you are going straight, it’s your tracking.
There is more but that’s enough for today.
I’m all heart.
Adebaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Your first 3 could also be due to bad roads.
or bad suspension components
True, I did say there was more though lads. When I wrote this a lot of people were just mesin so I said I’d through out some pointers for those afraid to ask etc.
The amount of illegal Chinese tyres on the roads is also something that needs investigation
But how could these tyres pass on an NCT/DOE test if they are illegal?
Why the hell would anyone buy a non-E-marked tyre anyway? – it’s too much hassle.
It wouldn’t make sense to put illegal tyres onto your car and then have to swap them off your vehicle before each NCT/DOE.
Maybe I’m missing something…
Offered them twice in the last year from two different places, 35 Euro a corner instead of 120, pretty tempting.
Maybe, Dave, they haven’t passed their NCT, or with pressure etc, most people will have their cars checked before the NCT, that’ll sort out issues short term but not fix longer term issues and within a couple of months the car is unsafe again.
I didn’t even know there were such thing as “illegal tyres” so that’s how easy it is to buy them :-/
Continental tyres did,the survey. Thats like,mac donalds doing a survey on burger king and kfc. So,other words. Its a fake survey used as free advertising.shame
There are still illegal and dangerous tyres out there
You’re safer getting german part-worn rather than a new set of that chinese junk.
Because the nct is a farce. All depends who you get on the day and how thorough they are
The Germans have taken them off for a reason….
Very decent of continental to do this study! Tyres in Ireland are like every other necessity , over priced. Comparative products in the UK are 30 to 50% cheaper! Shop around.
People wouldn’t be putting part worn or illegal tyres on their cars if they weren’t so expensive. 90 euro per tyre for my car and that was the cheapest I could get.!! Bit too pricey.
How much will it cost to repair your damaged lives when your car skids on the motorway causing a crash which takes 3 lives?
I know a place where you can get them for a third of the price, they probably won’t work but at least you’ll save a few quid.
Jesus, you’re not coming to my parties!
That’s great until you want to stop in the rain.
Tyres are important, you shouldn’t really spend any less than €100. Cheap tyres wear out quicker and are not safe so it’s a false economy buying cheapo tyres
:Insert flippant joke here
Or not.
This stuff is dangerous. People can barely drive well as it is.
People drive badly in unroadworthy cars with their phones on.
People die because of this. Time for flippancy? Possibly not.
You’re spot on. People should get a grip and tread gently. Sliding down the slippery slope of crass puns shows an over inflated attitude to ones comic worth. Down with this sort of thing.
Oh jeez I better go right now and get continental tires and spend god knows how much!!!!!
“dangerously over inflated” Like the story
This stuff is really tyring.
Yes the price of tyres are SHOCKING !!!! Make them more affordable and really do something for road safety reduce VAT and give people a fighting chance to buy good tyres !!!
I am prob about to hang myself with this comment, but half the cars prob should not be on the road good tyers or not, not to metion the gob shites driving them..!! The standard of driving in this country is shocking trust me, and the last thing people need to be doing is running about on dodgy tyers..!! Rant over..!!!!
That’s what happens when people don’t have to sit a test to get their licence in the 90′s
Its wasn’t the 90′s dumbo it was the 80′s
You are both wrong, , as it was the 70”s, 1979.
Either way… when did it become a good idea to give a licence to someone who was not assessed to have one!
That’s a question you should be asking the then Minister for Transport
Actually, if you see that someone has no NCT how do you go about anonymously grassing them up (in the interests of road safety)?
Traffic watch. I grassed up an idiot young one earlier…speeding and dangerous overtake.
Alternatively, you could go get a life…
As opposed to losing it?
Nice plug for continental there well done.
Can we see any other surveys from competitors to give a more balanced result?
Next up lots of garages don’t have air to supply, next up half that do charge for the use, next up half don’t work.
In other words this is something I’d take with a pinch of salt.
I’m not the shy and retyring type.
Retire with me,I’ve given up this whole serial killer larke,me and u,Killarney for the weekend???..
P.S..if you say no ill bury u under my neighbours shed.
You should retire from your attempt at being a comedian
I thought it was way higher than 1 in 6, who gives a crap about their tyres during a heatwave during a recession
There’s a lot of noticeably bad drivers on the roads these days, perhaps it’s all just down to dodgy tyres making them look bad! Haha
Irish tyres are the hardest to slash,but once they are slashed,the slashing begins.
Have you chatted to Ivan Answer yet? He can slash rates on your home insurance.
People cant afford to stay legal. Theres not much point in bringing in legislation if its beyond peoples means.
There is no excuse for not having your car road legal. I always make sure that I have money set aside for new tyres every year. It’s worth spending around €75 per tyre on a brand like Lassa
No excuse David. You are niave. People cant pay their bills & thats not an excuse its an economic reality.
I’m sure people can pull together €300 over the course of a year.
I’m paying off my student loans for a masters and living out of home. It is manageable. Services like MABS are invaluable at this time
I know loads
Agreed with Andrew, i pulld into a garage cause I thought all my tyres looked soft afta gettin new tyres fitted. So I pulls into dis garage and proceeds over to the free compressor thing, i press the button and hear the pump running, I lift the nosel and start tinkering with me tires. After trying to pump up the 2nd one I was certain sometin wasn’t rite. It felt like I was letting air out, I looks up and notices this car full of people pointing at me and laughing, it was then I realised that vandals mustive cut the hose and the gun wasn’t attached to anything. Lol
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