These days, I only do the school run occasionally, when it’s my granddaughter’s turn to be chauffeured home to help out when her parents are tied up with work. Or it’s been a while since I saw her little face and I need my fix of a five year old for a few hours.
It’s a far cry from my old routine of juggling three different schools at once (yes, three!) and honestly, I was not sorry to see the back of those years.
But even now, as the occasional stand-in, I’ve realised there’s one part of the school run I never really gave much thought to – the tyres under the car. Lunch boxes, PE kits, the right shoes, yes. Tyres? Not so much.
Bridgestone’s latest research has made me sit up and take notice though. They found that 39% of motorists wait until their car actually fails its MOT before replacing tyres, and 8% admit to driving on bald, illegal tyres before they do anything about it. I mean… imagine strapping the kids in the back knowing that.
The thing is, it’s not always laziness. 39% of drivers put off buying new tyres because of the cost, and almost 1 in 5 say they’ve never even thought about the risks of dangerous tyres. I get it – tyres are not the most glamorous or cheapest of purchases – but when you look at the risks, they suddenly feel like something worth paying attention to.
As Bridgestone’s UK Senior Marketing Manager, Helen Roe, puts it:
“Tyres are the only part of a car that touches the road, and yet they remain one of the most neglected safety components. With the school run back in full swing, we want to remind parents that simple tyre checks could make the difference between a safe journey and a dangerous one. Life is a journey – let’s make it a safe one.”
It’s sobering stuff, especially when national stats suggest that 6.1 million tyres could be driven illegally each year, with over two million MOT failures down to tyre defects – one million of those classed as dangerous.
The good news is, tyre checks aren’t rocket science. And Bridgestone are trying to make it easier through their Be a Bridgestone Road Safety Hero campaign. Over the past 18 months they’ve already carried out more than 5,000 free tyre inspections in communities across the UK, all to raise awareness of how important these checks are. Their advice is simple:
- Check your tyre pressures
- Keep an eye on tread depth
- Ask a professional if you’re unsure
Or, as Helen adds:
“We all want our children to get to school safely, and tyres play a huge role in that. By taking just a few minutes to check them each month, parents can make sure their family is better protected on every journey.”
So while I might only be on school run duty now and then, it’s a reminder for me too. Because if there’s one thing more stressful than three school drop-offs, it’s the thought of doing them on unsafe tyres. I’ll be checking mine this week, just in case.