Yes! Especially after the horrible accident last month, I am still trying to get my head around that and one of the big questions I asked myself was what if? What if the tyres had been bald? What if the tyres were cheap and weak? Would they have exploded causing more damage to my car? Would they have made me skid further into the car infront, causing them more damage? Mumsnet recently carried out a survey to find out what us women know about their tyres and Michelin came up with some pretty awesome myth busting facts that may have some answers to my questions.
I always get my wonderful father-in-law (he is a mechanic, so it makes sense) to make sure my car is safe and suitable for the children to be escorted in and since my accident, I have paid particular care and attention to things like the tyre tread and making sure all the bulbs are working in my car. I am not going to lie, I am an extremely nervous driver and passenger since the accident, I feel like everyone is going to drive into the back of me, like what happened to me and so making sure I can be as responsible as I could be with my own car is the best I can do to make sure I am safe driving, my children are safe driving in the car with me and I am conscious about the safety of the other drivers around me.
The infographic above gave me a few tips on what I needed to know, what I needed to talk to my father-in-law about and also how I can maintain these things myself, so I am reassured that everything is OK. I learnt that my tyre depth should be over 1.6mm, I didn’t know this before my car accident – not because I didn’t care but because my family helped me look after these things. When you have a car accident, I think it spurs you into thinking about things very differently and those what if questions really do change the way you respond to driving. I make sure I check my tyres and since the accident I have checked them twice with my little tyre tread gauge that I got from a local car shop – yes I got it and for some reason I keep it in my hand bag! Don’t ask. The below photo was taken of an old set of tyres and as you can see the tread is getting quite near to the legal limit:
I must admit, I didn’t know what the penalty is for driving with worn out tyres (I had a good idea though), apart from the risk of lives of course. So I would be one of those 62% of Mums, which is terrible as I know the importance of my family and how much I want to keep them safe and putting our family at risk with worn tyres seems a foolish thing to do. This campaign has made me so much more aware of the things I need to know, which can only mean that other Mums will learn from this research too. Especially as I know it is quite easy to monitor, check and get your tyres replaced when needed. I thought the survey has opened up some real discussions for us Mums and making us more aware of what we need to look out for and what we need to think about when considering our tyres. One Mum in the survey commented: βI feel some drivers do not appreciate nor understand the importance of having tyres in good working conditionβ and I completely agree with this after what I have been through over the past month.
Michelin have produced this video on keeping safe on the roads and how they try to understand their customers needs, real drivers in real conditions with real life situations and have a new initiative the Road Usage Lab:
So what myth busting factors have Michelin provided Mumsnet readers with? I have learnt that with winter tyres on a car you could shorten your braking distance by 4 metres and you do not need to have winter tyres just for snow. It amazes me that there are so many myths out there that are told from one family member to the next and it is just given they are correct. I have always thought winter tyres are for snowy and icy conditions. I had no idea that this was a myth. I am off to find some more…
I am a member of the Mumsnet Bloggers Network Research Panel, a group of parent bloggers who have volunteered to review products, services, events and brands for Mumsnet. I have not paid for the product or to attend an event. I have editorial control and retain full editorial integrity.
