Protyre News

A Preston tyre specialist has donated £200 for the Sue Ryder specialist neurological care centre following a tyre checking event held at Morrisons superstore on Blackpool Road.

Protyre Preston, located on Blackpool Road, organised the event on Saturday 13th August as part of its commitment to raise the profile of tyres and tyre safety to local motorists.

Tyre safety in the region is a concern for the centre’s manager, Gary Pickavance, who is urging motorists to take the issue more seriously, particularly after newly released figures showed almost a third of vehicle tyres are illegal.

Protyre recently supported tyre safety charity, TyreSafe, to undertake research of tyre tread depths. Figures for the North West showed that of the 61,013 tyres checked by TyreSafe partners, including Protyre, 31% (18,914) were found to be under the legal tread depth limit of 1.6mm.

Meanwhile, an alarming 70.8% of tyres (43,197) were either illegal or under 2mm. Motoring experts, including Protyre, strongly recommend that motorists change their tyres before the tread depth reaches 2mm, due to the drop off in performance.

Mr Pickavance said: “The care centre does amazing work for those impacted by life-changing conditions that affect the brain and nervous system, so we’re really proud to make this donation.

“On the matter of tyres, we do these free checks because there’s clear evidence that motorists in the region are not taking tyre safety seriously enough.

“Driving on illegal tyres is very dangerous because you have significantly less control of your vehicle and the stopping distance is much greater. The tyres are the only part of the car that is in contact with the road surface, which makes them crucial in helping to avoid a collision.

“Motorists could also face a fine of up to £2,500 and three points on their licence for each illegal tyre.”