By Denna Bowman

With snow and ice affecting many parts of the country the Institute of Advanced Motorists has issued advice for safe winter driving from checking tyres to easing off the revs.

Skidding on ice is the main concern for those driving in freezing conditions, but by taking sensible precautions motorists can avoid costly and even tragic accidents, according to the IAM.

Peter Rodger, IAM Chief Examiner says: ““When driving in snow, get your speed right - not too fast so that you risk losing control, but not so slow that you risk losing momentum when you need it – and brake, steer and accelerate as smoothly as possible.

“Start gently from stationary, avoiding high revs. If you get yourself into a skid the main thing to remember is to take your foot off the accelerator and steer, never use the brake.”

Other advice from the IAM includes:

Do a proper winter check of your vehicle, looking at washer fluid, de-icer/scraper and tyres.

Double or even triple your normal stopping distance from the vehicle in front.

Plan your journey around busier roads as they are more likely to have been gritted.

On motorways stay in the clearest lane where possible, away from slush and ice. Keep within the clear tyre tracks if you can.

Stay in a higher gear for better control.

Check the weather in advance – don’t ignore police warnings about closed roads.

Make sure you have an emergency kit so you are prepared in the event of a breakdown. This should include a torch, food for energy, water and a blanket. On longer journeys always let someone know you have set off and tell them your planned route.

Ensure your mobile is charged up so you can make a call in an emergency – but don’t use it when driving!

We’d like to wish all our tyres customers a very Merry Christmas!

It has been a fantastic year for etyres. Demand for our mobile tyres fitting service has gone through the roof - especially online - as many more of you have discovered that our prices are up to 40 per cent cheaper than the leading high street tyre depots.

This year, more than most, we have all been looking for better value for our money, especially on essentials like tyres, which nobody likes having to fork out for.

Our mobile fitting service means we don’t have expensive depots to run and because we keep our overheads low, we can pass the savings on to our customers in the form of cheaper prices than the big name tyre chains.

That’s why - judging from your emails and comments - those of you who discover etyres return time after time to place repeat orders and recommend us to your family, friends and colleagues.

So we thank you for your continued support and look forward to being of service to you in the future.

In the meantime - have a great Christmas!

Denna Bowman, Head Office

Bridgestone tyres have secured a home run for their Firestone brand after signing a multi-year marketing partnership as the “Official Tyre of Major League Baseball”.

As part of the agreement, Firestone tyres will become the exclusive sponsor of in-stadium All-Star Game balloting, which entails distribution of more than 20 million ballots at 30 MLB and 100 minor league ballparks.

Bridgestone and the Firestone brand will partner with MLB via numerous additional promotional opportunities, including title sponsorship of an officially sanctioned All-Star Week hospitality event and presenting sponsorship of a premier attraction at the MLB All-Star FanFest.

The deal also includes trademark rights and broadcast media “elements.” Bridgestone plans to support the partnership with “an integrated marketing plan, including national advertising and consumer marketing programmes and promotions.

John Baratta, president of Consumer Tyre Replacement Sales for Bridgestone, said the the agreement “is a tremendous opportunity to elevate the Firestone brand to new heights of consumer awareness and visibility.

“To be able to partner with a sport as successful and dynamic as baseball opens up a new world of possibilities to continue to strengthen our brand loyalty, bolster our marketing support of our family of retailers, and reach out to millions of new consumers who are loyal to MLB and its prestigious roster of officials sponsors.

Alex Kapadia, Operations Team

By Alex Kapadia

Prior to backing out of the driveway for the holidays or for a long car journey, Cooper tyres recommend motorists take five minutes to give their tyres a safety check to ensure a safe journey.

“Maintaining your tyres is an important part of making sure your vehicle runs smoothly,” said Chuck Yurkovich, vice president of global technology for Cooper .

“There are a number of easy ways to check your tyres before leaving for a trip. Keeping an eye on the condition of your tyres and knowing which tyres to use for cold weather driving can make a big difference in how your vehicle will perform.”

While inspecting your tyres there are three main items to check in order to start the trip safely:

Tyre pressure - check your owner’s manual or tyre placard attached to the drivers door jam for your tyres’ optimal pressure and adjust the pressure accordingly. A common myth is the tyre pressure listed on your tyres sidewall is the optimal pressure — in reality it’s the maximum pressure. Ensuring appropriate tyre pressure is important, as under-inflation creates excessive stress and may lead to tyre failure. It’s also important to guard against over-inflation, which can cause uneven wear, plus handling and stopping problems.

Load limit - Before you fill the boot and the roof rack with your luggage, check out the vehicle manufacturer’s recommendations for loading your vehicle (which includes the weight of the passengers). The vehicle manufacturer’s loading recommendation can be found in the owners’ manual. Overloading your vehicle creates excessive heat inside your tyres. Excessive heat can cause tyre failure that could result in vehicle damage and/or serious injury or even death.

Tyre tread - The tread on your tyres must be at least 1.66mm deep. If it isn’t at least that deep throughout all parts of the tread, the tyre must be replaced.

“Practicing regular tyre safety maintenance is a great way to ensure your vehicle and its passengers are safe while maximizing your tyres’ performance,” added Yurkovich.

“We recommend these procedures be used throughout the entire year, not just during the holidays. Tyres working in optimal condition traditionally provide greater traction for stopping power, handling and help maximise gas mileage.”

If you have decided to take the plunge and fit winter tyres to your car you are immediately faced with a big problem - what to do with your old tyres that still have plenty of wear left in them?

etyres offers the answer to all your problems.

Not only are our tyres up to 40% cheaper than the leading high street depots, but our convenient mobile fitting service means you can immediately store your all-season tyres in your garage or shed until the weather improves.

Then we will come out to your home and re-fit them back onto your vehicle again - ensuring you stay safer during the winter and get maximum use out of your everyday tyres.

Winter tyres are set to become increasingly popular as the UK experiences more extreme weather conditions.

They are designed to cope with all types of poor weather conditions, not just snow, giving you greater traction and roadholding on mud-covered roads, and through slush and ice.

Denna Bowman, Head Office

There is no legislation about winter tyres in the UK and very little advise about why they need to be fitted.

Several EU countries have made winter tyres compulsory or at least recommended they are fitted to cars during the winter months, as anyone who drives abroad on a skiing holiday will be aware.

This week we have faced struggled through days of chaos on our roads, brought on by the arrival of ice and snowy conditions.

But just like it’s safer to pull on a pair of snow boots to stop you slipping over on the icy pavements, we should think about the merits of fitting winter tyres to our vehicles.

A winter tyre is designed to be used in temperatures far lower than general use tyres and vastly differing road conditions.

A tyres performance will be greatly reduced if the rubber becomes hardened. For this reason winter tyres are manufactured using a compound that will remain supple under the harshest of operating conditions.

This, along with its specially designed tread pattern allows the tyre to provide grip and safety in winter conditions.

Tread patterns are very aggressive and feature a large amount of siping in order to create a “biting” edge to the tread to ensure grip on snow and ice surfaces. This heavily siped tread pattern is also referred to as “lamellen” tread.

For more information, go to www.etyres.co.uk/winter-tyres-law.

Alex Kapadia, Operations Team

As millions of us hit the roads for the Christmas holidays it’s worth remembering there are hidden hazards that can seriously damage your tyres.

Potholes lurking under puddles can puncture and tear tyres and the problem is not always immediately apparent. But driving on a damaged tyre can lead to a blow out at high speeds.

Sliding into kerbs in the current snow and icy conditions can also cause damage to a tyre which can lead to tyre failure down further down the road.

Both hazards can also throw your wheels out of alignment, which will lead to uneven wear and ultimately your tyres will need replacing prematurely.

It can also lead to air seeping out of the tyre and under-inflated tyres which offer less grip and increase the risk of accidents.

Motorists are advised not to drive too close to kerbs and avoid running over large puddles to avoid damaging their tyres and if you think you have given your tyres a bang, check them a visual inspection for signs of damage as soon as possible.

Denna Bowman, Head Office

By Oliver Hall

A coroner has said drivers should be made to carry tyre pressure monitors after ruling a slow puncture was partly to blame for a crash which killed a young driver.

Jon Puddy died just two days after his 20th birthday in August after crashing into a taxi while driving at around twice the 30mph speed limit.

An inquest in Taunton heard last week that car fanatic and keen fisherman Mr Puddy was driving his younger brother Jacob from West Huntspill to Highbridge when the crash happened.

The inquest was told Mr Puddy overtook his friend Liam Knight as they approached Highbridge on Huntspill Road and narrowly avoided an oncoming police car on its way to an incident.

Mr Knight said Mr Puddy then started to pull away from him at speed before he heard a “massive crash”.

The taxi driver, Darren Haworth, told the inquest he saw Mr Puddy come head-on towards him on his side of the road.

Mr Haworth broke his knee in the collision but Mr Puddy died in hospital two days later from his injuries.

The inquest heard a crash investigation revealed road markings showed Mr Puddy would have been travelling between 50 and 67mph moments before the collision.

It also stated the pressure of Mr Puddy’s rear offside tyre was “significantly reduced”, despite being replaced a week before, because of a slow puncture which caused him to lose control.

In recording a verdict of accidental death, West Somerset Coroner Michael Rose said the “sad accident” highlighted the importance of regularly checking tyre pressures.

He said: “It should be compulsory to carry a pressure reader - tyres are the most important thing in a car.”

By Denna Bowman

Cold temperatures can have drastic effects on our tyres, which could result in you ending up having a nasty accident.

Guy Frobisher, head of road safety for Continental tyres, said: “Every winter we have problems because motorists are poorly equipped to cope. First many of us still refuse to slow down and a leave greater distance to the vehicle in front.

“We have a mix of snow, ice and excess water and all of these conditions combined with low temperatures will reduce the performance of conventional tyres and create the misery of an accident that could be avoided”.

The number of road accidents is six times higher in winter than the rest of the year as a result of road conditions and plummeting temperatures.

Drivers are being urged to make the switch to cold weather tyres as in other parts in Europe.

Mr Frobisher added: “If UK road users were on cold weather tyres we would not have seen as many problems as we have had with the enormous cost to the economy that represents.

“Much of our road network is at capacity so any disruption has a disproportionate effect and means the kind of chaos we are seeing now”.

Across Europe drivers will switch to cold weather tyres to combat the combination of poor conditions and freezing temperatures.

The rubber compound in cold weather tyres is designed to perform better below seven degrees Celsius.

Tyres remain supple thanks to a softer and cold-resistant rubber compound. The special tread pattern also adds to reduce the braking distance.

At just 20 mph on an icy road a car with conventional tyres will come to a standstill after 68 metres, some 11 metres - or over two car lengths - more than a car fitted with cold weather tyres.

Even as snow and ice melts road users will face problems and the risk of aquaplaning.

At 62 mph on a wet road with temperatures below seven degrees Celsius the stopping distance on conventional tyres is five metres more than with cold weather tyres fitted - more than the length of a car and potentially the difference between stopping safely or an accident.

By Oliver Hall

China has officially asked the World Trade Organisation to launch an investigation into the legality of the US duties imposed on Chinese-made tyres.

However, the challenge has stumbled at the start, because the US successfully raised objections to the request, according a Reuters news report.

The tyres row is the latest in a series of disputes between the two economic giants to reach the global trade umpire.

At a World Trade Organisation dispute settlement meeting in Geneva on Monday, China requested the formation of an expert panel to examine the legality of “special safeguard” duties on Chinese tyre imports imposed by the Obama administration in September, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The United States successfully raised procedural objections, and China will raise the demand again next month, launching a WTO probe that could take six months or longer to reach a finding, said the report.

Either side then can take issue with the panel finding, eventually pushing the case to a final decision by WTO judges.

“The U.S. government decision to impose the duties lacked a factual basis, and was thus in violation of the relevant WTO rules,” the Xinhua report said, citing a statement by Chinese officials in Geneva on Monday.

“This so-called special safeguard was bowing to pressure from domestic protectionism, and violated the international consensus to avoid protectionist measures against the backdrop of the financial and economic crisis,” said the statement.

Beijing reacted angrily to President Barack Obama’s decision to impose a special 35 percent tariff on Chinese-made tyres after the United Steelworkers union complained that imports had tripled between 2004 and 2008 to about 46 million tyres.

China worries the decision could set a precedent for other such safeguard barriers against its exports and had already indicated it was looking to take the dispute to the WTO.

Washington has said it believes the tyre duties do not violate WTO rules.