Tire Pressure
Monitoring your tire pressure can save lives. Too many people ignore the tires on their car without realising how much of a critical piece of safety equipment they are. Your tires affect the traction, handling, steering, stability and braking of your car. If your tires were to suddenly fail there could be major consequences, especially if you’re travelling at a high speed.
- Nearly a quarter of a million of all the road accidents in the US are due to low tire pressure
- Around 75% of the roadside flats in the US are preceded by tire pressure leaking or under-inflated tires
- A recent study showed that the United States as a whole could use 10% less fuel and save up to $2 billion a year collectively just by properly inflating tires
- The NHTSA estimate that using a tire pressure monitoring system could prevent up to 79 deaths and over 10,000 injuries in the United States
The Effects of Under Inflation
It’s estimated that 23,000 accidents and 535 fatal accidents in the United States involve a tire going flat or blowing out. Keeping the air pressure in your tires at the right levels is more than just a safety issue too. It can also affect how well your car handles and performs.
Why Servicing Your Tires is More Expensive than Having them Rotated
When a technician moves a tire from one part of the vehicle to the other they make use of special diagnostic tools and they have to recalibrate sensors. The sensor has to be tested to ensure that it works properly and it has to be reprogrammed when the tires are moved as part of tire rotation. OEMs recommend having a sensor service kit installed each time that your tires are serviced. These sensors are powered by a powerful battery that should last up to 8 years. Unfortunately these batteries are not replaceable and the sensor needs to be replaced instead.