Tyre Pressure News and Information: Environment
Minimise damage from potholes
Hitting a pothole can cause internal tyre damage that may not be immediately apparent, and the damage can be much worse if the tyre’s not at the correct pressure. Pot holes led to an estimated 8,000 insurance claims in 2010 and early signs are that 2011 will exceed this due to the damage caused to [...]
£900 fine for dumping tyres on bonfire
A County Down man has been fined £900 for illegally disposing of tyres on a bonfire. Guilty under six charges brought under The Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997, Leonard Nicholsonof Ballykinlar, was fined £150 on each charge at Newry Magistrates’ Court and ordered to pay £31 costs. Tyres are classed as controlled [...]
Drivers in the UK are throwing away more than £440 million pounds by driving with under-inflated tyres.
Research by Michelin reveals that poor tyre pressure maintenance is costing UK motorists more than £440million, wasting more than 370 million litres of fuel and pumping an additional 1 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. All of this is before the cost of premature wear on tyres is taken into account. Michelin’s head of [...]
Environmental statement
Surveys show that up to 90% of vehicles on Britain’s roads have incorrectly inflated tyres, leading to hundreds of deaths and serious injuries, excessive fuel consumption and premature tyre wear. Road transport is the source of 22% of all UK CO2 emission each year. This could be significantly reduced by vehicles having correctly inflated tyres. [...]
Tyre pressure and road contact
Correct tyre pressure gives best grip and shortest braking distance. Over-inflation reduces contact and leads to uneven tyre wear. Under-inflation reduces grip and increases braking distance. Cornering is impaired as the tyre tends to roll under the wheel rim. Excess flexing of the sidewall can cause delamination and overheating, leading to a blowout. Under-inflated tyres [...]
500,000 tonnes of scrap tyres
The UK recovered about 500,000 tonnes of scrap tyres in 2009, practically the same as in 2008, according to industry figures released by the Used Tyre Working Group. However, responsible tyre recovery operators have seen profit margins squeezed by market conditions during the recession and have suffered additional pressure from illegal collection and disposal activities. [...]
TPMS Legislation
Following the spate of fatal rollover accidents involving Ford Galaxys and Firestone tyres in 2000, the US government introduced the TREAD act that required tyre pressure monitoring systems to be fitted to all new cars. This has applied to all cars and light vans sold in the USA since 2008. There are arguments that the [...]
Tyre wear and fuel use
Effect of incorrect tyre pressures Apart from the dangers, incorrect tyre pressure leads to increased tyre wear and a significant increase in fuel consumption. Data from Continental Tyres Continental Tyres make the following estimates of increased tyre wear and fuel consumption 3 PSI drop in pressure causes 5% or more increase in fuel consumption and [...]
Number of cars registered
There were 34.2 million licensed vehicles registered in Great Britain at the end of 2008. Over the year, the number of motorcycles increased by 2.2% while the number of licensed heavy goods vehicles reduced by 1.7%. This information comes from official government vehicle licensing statistics, published in April 2009. With a recent survey revealing that [...]
Tyre wear on under-inflated tyres
Apart from the safety implications, incorrect tyre pressure leads to increased tyre wear and a significant increase in fuel consumption. A tyre under-inflated by 10psi increases fuel consumption by approximately 2.5 percent and reduces the tyre life by as much as 10%. According to some estimates, under-inflated tyres and bad driving practice cost motorists over [...]