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Travel safe: check the tires!
Like every summer many Italians decide to reach their travel destinations by car.
According to an estimate realized by Federpneus, the Italian association of specialist tire dealers, this summer about 25 millions Italians will be traveling by car. This high number is made even more significant by another interesting datum: the average distance traveled by Italian people is increasing in comparison to last summer, from 390 to 402 kilometers. The trend to use the car more and more, also for quite long travels, should result in a greater care of ones car, motor home or motorbike, and before leaving everybody should always check the conditions of tires.
The good conditions of tires is essential to travel safe: tires, indeed, are the only point of contact between vehicles and roads, and if you want to avoid dangerous situations while traveling, you should have the tires of your car or motorbike checked from time to time. One of the most important things to monitor is pressure, which can also influence the consumption of your car or motorbike. Before leaving, it is advisable to have the pressure monitored by a specialized tire dealers, who has all the necessary instruments to make a complete and thorough check, letting us travel in a safer way. Make a check before going on holiday is even more important if you travel by a motor home, a caravan or another vehicle that you only use now and then, perhaps only for summer holidays, and that you do not ride for most of the year.
An evidence of the importance of the good conditions of tires when you travel is given by “Vacanze Sicure” (Safe holidays), a campaign launched by Assogomma, Federpneus and the traffic police. From April to June, before the “summer exodus”, in five Italian regions (Trentino Alto Adige, Veneto, Emilia Romagna, Tuscany and Puglia), about 10,000 controls have been made on the tires of cars, trucks, light commercial vehicles and motor homes to verify the presence of slick, non certified, uneven or damaged tires. As far as slick tires is concerned, the results of the control have been positive: while a survey carried out in 2003 had resulted in a percentage of 8-10% of slick tires, the percentage in 2010 has been 3-5%. Also the number of non certified tires is decreasing, while some tires had visible damages and cuts, which might undermine the car efficiency and the safety of travelers. If you notice that your tires are damaged, it is always advisable to have them replaced, especially if you are leaving for a quite long travel. The percentage of uneven tires has increased: although traffic rules require that tires mounted on the same axle have the same features and size, 4% of cars checked in 2010 had uneven tires. Many people, in particular, use winter tires also when the season is over. But you need to keep in mind that winter tires make their best performances when temperature is below 7°, and when it gets warmer it is advisable to replace them with other types of tires.