Are you having a bad air day?

October is Tyre Safety Month and Kwik Fit is once again supporting TyreSafe, the UK’s tyre safety charity, by reminding drivers of the importance of frequent tyre pressure checks to improve road safety, reduce motoring costs and be kinder to the environment. This year, TyreSafe is asking motorists to check whether they are having a “good or bad air day” in order to raise awareness on the importance of regular tyre maintenance and the dangers of under inflated tyres. 

You might not think much of it if your tyres are not inflated to the correct PSI as specified in your vehicle handbook. But under inflated tyres can be a real danger to you and other road users. They increase your braking distance as the tyre contact patch is not fully connecting with the road and they affect your road handling making it more difficult to corner. But safety isn’t the only issue. If your tyres are under inflated you might feel the pinch in your pocket too as under-inflated tyres consume more fuel meaning you’ll need to refuel more often and your tyres will wear faster than usual and need replacing much sooner.

TyreSafe has found that over half (56.8%) of car tyres on UK roads are at least 4 PSI below their recommended pressure and that an estimated £600m is wasted on excess fuel as a result of driving with under-inflated tyres.

How to correctly inflate your tyres

Checking your tyres to make sure they are not under inflated is easy and most garage forecourts provide air for a small charge. Firstly, make sure you know what the correct tyre pressure should be for your vehicle by checking the vehicle handbook. The correct pressure is also usually printed inside the jamb of the driver’s door or under the petrol cap. Then, set the machine to the correct tyre pressure. Tip: since most petrol stations provide air on a timer, make sure you remove the dust caps from your tyres before starting the machine to maximise your time and ensure you’re not having to fiddle with these once the clock starts! Attach the airline to the tyre valve and the machine will show you the current air pressure. It will beep to let you know when the desired tyre pressure PSI is reached (so it’s important to set this correctly first). If you are at all unsure about your tyre pressure or have a question about your tyres, just pop in to your local Kwik Fit centre and we’ll be happy to check them for you.

Maintaining tyre pressure is just as important as checking tread depth, but this is often forgotten by drivers. We conducted our own research and found that more than 1 in every 4 drivers check there tyre pressure less than twice a year. At Kwik Fit, we recommend checking your tyre pressure every month, so if you’ve been putting off getting your tyre pressure checked, don’t have a bad air day, get them checked out, it’ll only take a few minutes to make sure your tyres are doing the best job they can.

Find my recommended tyre pressure