If you’re lucky enough to be jumping into your car and rocking up to a summer festival over the next few months, you might want to take a look at this check-list to make sure your tyres are going to be rolling with you.
According to Bridgestone tyres, a recent poll found that 67% of under 30’s hadn’t checked their tyres before travelling to festivals like Glastonbury.
Bridgestone is predicting trouble for drivers heading to big festivals this summer like T in the Park and Creamfields as muddy and wet fields at these festivals can create problems for motorists who are not used to driving in such conditions.
So the tyre manufacturer is urging music-loving motorists to be safe by making necessary checks before travelling to festivals across the country this summer.
1. Take a look: Look for cuts cracks, lumps, bulges, tears or anything unusual about your tyres before your trip – a visual inspection can go a long way in preventing a problem on the road and getting you to the festival on time!
2. Tread depth: Make sure your tread depth is above the legal limit of 1.6 mm – ideally, if you’re travelling a long distance, change tyres if the depth is around 2 mm deep.
3. Pressure: Underinflated tyres can result in tyre damage, increased fuel consumption and can impair vehicle handling. Check with your local garage and/or your car manual to find out what your tyre pressure should be and if they’re low inflate them to the correct pressure.
4. Check your valves (end point where air is pumped) and valve stem (base for the valve – connected to the tyre itself). If your tyres are slowly deflating and you’ve found nothing else visibly wrong with them, it could be that your valve or valve stem are faulty. Check the stem by carefully bending it from side to side looking for splits. If you spot something, take your car to a garage to have the valve replaced.
Andy Dingley, communications manager at Bridgestone, said: “Bridgestone is always encouraging safe driving and the last thing we want is for people to get stuck in the mud at festivals this summer. We hope motorists will use our safety tyre check guidelines to check their tyres before setting out in their cars to summer festivals.”
Harriet, Head Office