Women get to grips with tyre safety at Morecambe event

Westgate Tyres held a tyre safety event especially for women.

Westgate Tyres hosted the evening event for over 30 female customers at their location at the Old Works.

This followed a demand from their own female customers requesting more education on tyres and best practice for maximising safety and longevity.

For the tyre safety session, attendees were given information and advice on how often tyres should be checked, measuring tread depths and their legal limits, stopping distances, where to fit your best tyres and the differences between budget and mid-range tyres.

Sophie Bailey, sales director, said: “‘Safe Tyres Save Lives’, is followed by four practical safety activities - under bonnet checks, how to safely change a wheel, the impact tracking can have on tyre wear and the dangers of illegal part worn tyres.”

The part worn tyres safety activity generated considerable interest with the opportunity to see close-up examples of badly worn tyres, tyre labelling legislation and statistics and data around part worn tyres providing eye-opening revelations for attendees.

Brian McDermott, European Sales & Marketing Director GT Radial said: “Many of the ladies who attended the event were shocked at what we were showing them.

“It was a real eye opener for some who were driving on part worn tyres, or knew someone who was. It’s clear that so many drivers are in the dark about how vital the tyres on their cars are.”

“Tyres removed from vehicles are usually taken off for a reason. They may have hidden damage which is only likely to be revealed when the car has to brake suddenly.

“The reality is that they pose a real road safety danger, are not fit for purpose and in fact offer very poor value for money.”

“This certainly proved one of the most interesting and engaging activities on the night which overall was very well received, proving educational and informative for all those who attended.”

The extent of the danger posed by illegal part worn tyres is a major concern across the industry, including Birmingham Trading Standards, which found that 90% of the part worn tyres they examined failed to meet the minimum legal requirements.

It’s not only illegal part worn tyres that are a danger on UK roads, over-worn tyres are becoming increasingly common as well. A recent study by Micheldever, one of the largest retailers of tyres in the UK, shows that since 2011, more than 50% of all tyres are worn to below legal minimum of 1.6mm before they are taken off and replaced.

Overall the event proved a huge success with many attending requesting to be kept informed of future events. Some asked if they could bring their sons, parents or partners along to the next session.

Westgate Tyres have plans for a mixed male and female event set to take place in September this year.