Tyres
How does it work?
Tyres are a uniquely influential component to road safety. Only tyres are in direct contact with the road, and no other automotive component has such a singular effect on all the manoeuvres a vehicle makes: tyres ultimately determine how well a vehicle accelerates, brakes and steers. In short, if your tyres don’t work, your brakes and steering won’t.
That will remain of great significance. While other automotive technologies are set to be transformed in the near future, the tyres we have today are likely to remain unchanged on the vast majority of vehicles for some time, quite probably decades. If a vehicle is fortunate enough to have ADAS or autonomous functionality, the driver needs to be aware these systems depend on the tyres being in good roadworthy condition.
At the moment, however, vehicles are not equipped with technology capable of relaying a tyre’s condition to the vehicle’s control systems automatically. As such, a human needs to check the tyres are not damaged and ensure they have legal tread, and that is likely to remain essential for many years to come.
Despite their critical importance, tyres are often overlooked or taken for granted for many reasons with a key element being lack of knowledge. TyreSafe provides expert advice to motorists and organisations alike, helping them reduce their risk while on the roads and also save money. Visit tyresafe.org for more
