When you are a parent, suddenly the world seems to be filled with dangers that you hadn’t previously noticed. Your car tyres for example are one of the parts that are ignored the most for a check on a regular basis. This can cause unexpected road halts like, puncture and tyre being flattened in the middle of a long road voyage. This not only hinders your smooth driving experience but also makes road journey uncomfortable for your kids. At times tyre breakdown may lead to long waiting hours for a mechanic creating further inconvenience for family members travelling with you.
However if you are travelling with kids, you don’t have to let parenthood stifle your love of travel, and, while yes, there are dangers everywhere, there are also regulations and checks to make sure that no one is at undue risk of harm. Let’s have a look at some must-know tyre maintenance tips that will help you in keeping your kids safe as you travel between London and Manchester – perhaps even popping into beautiful Buntingford in Hertfordshire for the historic sites, brilliant play areas for the children, or to enjoy some arts and crafts activities, as you explore England this summer.
Why Inflation Must Be Right
Tyre inflation in the early days of motoring was something of a drivers’ choice. Tyres were unsophisticated for much of the history of driving, basic air-bags that inflated around the wheel and made your drive dramatically more comfortable than the old wood and steel wheels of times gone by. This meant that drivers could use their own initiative when it came to their tyres, underinflating them slightly to gain more grip or traction on slippery roads, or overinflating them to enjoy a cushiony ride on very new, well-graded surfaces. But tyre innovation has seen precision engineering produce tyres that work best, in all weather and road conditions, when inflated to within the narrow range recommended by the manufacturers – and this is so important it has now been included in the MOT checklist. If your tyres don’t hold their pressure any more, make the most of your trip and enjoy a day trip while the garage works on making your car safer for your kids: you can also book your tyres in Buntingford with Ecotyre Services at your convenience.
How to Check Your Tread Depth
Everyone should know that your tread depth must be at least 1.6mm over the central three-quarters of the tyre’s contact area, but you might not know why this is the case. The treads – the big grooves and smaller sipes – that make an attractive pattern on the tyre’s contact surface area (the bit that touches the road) work like sponges to whisk water away from between the road and the tyre. Without them, your car might end up skidding along the top of this thin film of water – this is called hydroplaning or aquaplaning, and it is very dangerous indeed, erasing your ability to control the car. Mechanics and motoring experts agree that you should aim never to let your tyres wear below 3mm of tread depth over the entire contact area without immediately booking a new set of the best quality tyres that you can afford.
How to Read Your Tyre’s Code
If the world of tyres is something of a closed book to you with every tyre seeming to be interchangeable with the next, don’t worry – this is the case to many people! However, there is an easy way to tell the difference between tyres – they will let you know! On each tyre, embossed on the sidewall, you will find a code which gives you all the information you need about your tyre, from its week and year of manufacture to its maximum load and speed to what conditions it has been designed for. Once you’ve learned what each number and letter means, you will be able to effortlessly identify the differences between tyres, so you can make the best choices to keep your car and therefore your children safe on the road.
These must-know tyre maintenance tips will help you and your kids stay safe on the UK’s roads as you travel, whether it is for fun, business or duty!