Car Tyre Safety Tips For the School Run
Even short journeys that are undertaken in a car lead to issues with its tyres. If you only ever drive a few miles from home to drop the kids off at school and never venture much further than that, then you may be forgiven for thinking that your tyres are not undergoing wear and tear. This is simply not so. Even a few miles of travel will lead to some wear if you do the same trip frequently enough. Furthermore, many Australian roads have potholes which you can hit. These, too, cause low-level damage to your car's tyres. What should you be checking on to make sure your car's occupants remain safe at all times?
Under-Inflated Tyres
When you drive for long enough, your car's tyre pressure will inevitably drop. This is the case whether you only drive short distances across town or regularly undertake interstate trips. Either way, the amount of miles your car clocks up begins to rise. Every stone you drive over or kerb you bump up against knocks some air out of your tyres. Every few thousand miles, you should check the tyre pressure of each of your tyres. Under-inflated tyres don't respond as well when you need to brake or swerve. They can slew, which makes cornering dangerous, too. Check your inflation levels the next time you refuel.
Misaligned Tyres
When your tyres are misaligned, they try to pull against one another. Firstly, this causes the tyres to age prematurely, with wear being caused on one part of the tyre more than the rest of its surface. Secondly, good tyre alignment is important for manoeuvring. With wheels that are out of alignment with one another, you simply won't be able to control the car properly if you need to steer rapidly—for example, to get out of the way of a child running into the road ahead of you. Have your wheel alignment professionally inspected, and give yourself peace of mind on the school run.
Ageing Tyres
As tyres get older, their tread depth will diminish. Don't think that this won't happen because you only use your car for limited journey lengths at relatively low speeds. If your tread depth gets to a level that is under 1.5mm, then you are no longer legal to drive on Australian roads. Nonetheless, you should exchange your tyres well before they get to this level in order to stay safe. Stopping distances are drastically increased for every millimetre of tread depth you have worn away by driving around.