04/10/2010: Are you wasting money with under-inflated tyres?

Truth is, if you’re driving around on under-inflated tyres you’re not just shortening their life, you’re also wasting fuel, polluting the environment and risking road safety. On top of which, driving around on under-inflated tyres can seriously damage your motoring enjoyment and comfort. In fact French giant Michelin is currently running its Fill Up With Air Roadshow in order to encourage motorists to check the pressure of their tyres on a regular basis. Michelin is also offering free tyre checks so you can make sure they really are in tip-top condition.

Saving fuel is perhaps the most obvious benefit of running on correctly inflated tyres and Michelin’s own 2009 figures clearly demonstrate that if all UK cars were running on correctly inflated tyres then UK motorists would save more than 370 million litres of fuel per year. That’s a big saving just from running on correctly inflated tyres and with fuel costing around £1.20 per litre, it means that as a nation we’re actually wasting more than £440 million pounds per year! Perhaps today’s money conscious government should sit up and take notice of the savings that are possible from tyres.

Quite apart from saving money of course, there is no doubt that correctly inflated tyres can save lives. It really is a matter of life and death and it’s important that people should learn to check their tyres regularly which is what Michelin is aiming to do with its Fill Up With Air Roadshow. Tyres that are under inflated can cause poor handling on the road and potentially lead to serious accidents and put lives at risk. On top of which, poor handling spoils the comfort and ride quality of your car which takes away some of the pleasure. When you add the fact that when less fuel is consumed by correctly inflated tyres then less CO2 is produced, which is much better for the environment.

This year the Michelin Fill Up With Air team will be visiting more locations than ever before, so if it comes to your town why not take 10 minutes to nip along for a free check on your tyres? This year’s campaign is the biggest to date with more than 50 locations included in the tour. All locations can be found on Michelin’s UK website.