Road Safety Tips - Tyres

Tyres!!!

South African roads cater for 9 162 847 vehicles that are registered and are using our national. This number is growing each time a car deal is concluded. The risk of being on the road at any point is ever increasing. Without taking serious actions our roads will remain the deadliest in the world. One of the contributing factors is that the responsibility of to create safer roads in still left upon the department of transport.

There are many causes of road accidents that are understood to be at the centre of this crisis but tyre bursts appear to be at the top of the list. Road accidents related to tyre bursts often lead to fatalities because the car loses control.

Tyres are the only point of contact between the vehicle and the road surface and their health cannot be ignored. It is very crucial for every single driver to at least have basic understanding of tyres more especially pressure requirements. Below we discuss main causes of tyre bursts and how can they be prevented.

1. Tyre Pressure
All tyres are different in size and shape. Their pressure specifications also differ according to the type and quality of the tyre. In most cases drivers depend on petrol attendants to pump their tyres to the required pressure but this process needs the vehicle owner inspection as well.

Read your vehicle manual that must always be inside the cabin holder. It contains tyre specifications and their pressure requirements. If you struggle to understand or find this part, just drive into any petrol stations and ask for help.

Over-inflated tyres are at risk of bursting more especially when driving on a high speed. This is because as you drive faster, the air molecules inside the tyre begin to expand this adding more pressure. This does not suggest that tyres must be under-inflated because this also has the same risk as over-inflated tyres. Under-inflated tyre cause unnecessary friction that causes the rubber to heat up and tear.

2. Road Surface
When we take on a drive we normally assume that the road surface should be free of things that introduce risk on tyre but this is not always the case. The roads we drive on are used by different vehicles carrying all sorts of things. Sometimes these things fall onto the road surface. Unfortunately tyres are not built for such conditions. The driver needs to be careful and be observant of thing that might be lying on the road surface.

Portholes are the most dangerous thing as they damage the tyre thus causing tyre blow. Avoiding them can also be very dangerous and result to collisions. It is for this reason that the driver must always have unobstructed view of the road surface and also drive at a reasonable speed.

3. Temperature
Temperature is another contributor to tyre burst. There is less control that one can have over this factor but it is advised that at least drivers understand its effect. Inflated tyres contact air inside them. This air is in the form of molecules. All molecules expand on high temperature and contract on low temperatures. The risk is low if the outside temperature matches the internal temperature of the tyre. If the two don’t match the tyre is then under strain and it starts losing its grip of the road.

These tips are taken from an article that will be posted on this site soon. It will go deep into road safety and will provide more tips to help road users especially those behind the steering wheel, to take more responsibility towards their safety and that of passengers.