“Tyre” is by excellence a key “active safety” element
contributing to road safety.
Tyre producers know that safety cannot be dissociated from
considerations of environmental performance. The tyre is the
sole component linking the vehicle and the road.
Tyre designers are continuously obliged to deal with the so-called
"tyre compromise" that is essential in order to place on the
market 100 % reliable products.
A range of criteria, some of which are contradictory in effect,
must be carefully balanced to create a tyre’s global
performance: road handling and wear, noise and wet grip, rolling
resistance and noise. Enhancing or reducing performance in one
of these performance aspects will often have a clear and
opposite effect on one or several other characteristics.
The art of the tyre maker is to optimise the compromise in order
to meet the needs of vehicles users in the best possible way
and, overall, having primary regard to safety.
The correct tyre inflation pressure is essential for delivering
the tyre performance and all efforts must be made to guarantee
proper setting and maintenance of the inflation pressure.
Tyre pressure
The right pressure is fundamental for the tyre to operate in the
most optimal conditions and to ensure a longer service life of
the tyre.
The various most recent studies performed by the tyre industry
across the European Union show that:
- 65% of drivers run with under inflated tyres;
- roughly 40% of drivers have at least one tyre significantly
under inflated (<150 kPa);
- 12.0% of cars (1 in 8) were reported to be in danger of tyre
failure.
These results suggest that many motorists are unaware that a
tyre naturally loses pressure over time, just like a balloon,
about 10kPa every month. Consequently, driving with incorrect
tyre pressure can be dangerous. The loss of handling control and
increase in vehicle drift rises sharply as tyre pressure is
reduced. Furthermore, low tyre pressure has an extremely
negative effect on tyre durability, due to excessive stress in
the tyre shoulder and heat build-up from sidewall bending. The
lower the tyre inflation pressure is, the higher is the effect
on aquaplaning, braking on wet and dry roads, and tread wear.
Inflation pressure has also a questionable influence on fuel
consumption. Depending on the type of road and driving style,
rolling resistance represents 20% of the total force on a
passenger vehicle. With a 25% loss of pressure, the tyre rolling
resistance is increased by 10%, which in turn results in 2% more
fuel consumption !
Therefore the fitment of accurate tyre pressure monitoring
devices on all new vehicles will help drivers keeping their tyre
pressure as close as possible to the recommended values.
Additional to such systems, efforts should be made to develop
responsible driver attitudes including regular tyre checks. This
would be facilitated through increased access to working
infrastructures to fill up with air the tyre once he is warned
of under inflation.
As an evidence of the strong involvement of the Sector to
enhance security of road users and vehicles, ETRMA committed
within the European Safety Charter to initiate a wide-ranging
programme of safety oriented education campaigns to increase
stakeholders’ knowledge on the necessity of making a proper tyre
maintenance to keep it at its design-level of safety and
performance.
Update, 11 December 2007
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