So how many tyres do you need to check before you set off on a journey, 1, 2, 3 or 4? The answer is 5!!! Yes, if you have a spare tyre it has to be legal and roadworthy. However, you don’t have to carry a spare tyre. In fact many new cars don’t come with a spare tyre.
Did you know that you can get points on your driving licence for having illegal tyres on your car and it’s 3 points for each tyre that’s illegal!
So the legal limit of tread in the UK on a car tyre is 1.6mm over the central three quarters of the tread and around the entire wheel. This can be measured with the treadwear indicators which are small raised bits of rubber in the groves. The height of these bits of rubber are 1.6mm and you can see and feel them with your fingertips. The tyres must also show no signs of wear on the sidewalls such as cuts and bulges. These could cause the tyre to burst.
Ideally check your tyres every day for any visible wear and tear. Check your tyre pressures and tread depth every 2 weeks. It’s so easy to completely forget about checking your tyres along with other things like lights, engine oil and coolant. It’s easy to wait until you have a service for the garage to tell you that your tyres need changing. It’s also easy when your young to assume that your dad will keep his eye on everything for you. It is your responsibility to make sure your car is legal and roadworthy. In fact if you drive a company vehicle. Either a car, van or lorry, it is your responsibility to make sure that everything on the vehicle is in good working order. It is the driver who will receive the fine and points. In fact any driver can not be forced by their boss to drive a vehicle that is not legal.
The correct pressures are also important too. It’s easy too to forget to check these. The correct tyre pressures can be found in the owners manual or sometimes on the door frame of the car. The front tyres are normally different to the rear. The rear tyres also depend on whether you’re carry a light or heavy load.
2 thoughts on “How to Check Your Tyres are Legal”
Many of my friends had passed with Peter Skelton’s driving school with flying colours and I knew I wanted to learn from the best. Before my first lesson I did not realise that I will be learning with Peter himself so when I saw him leaving his car I was totally starstruck and I have felt the same throughout our journey!
I started to learn driving later in life and before I started I genuinely thought I won’t be able to learn and had so many thoughts like ‘I am not made for it’, ‘my time has passed’ etc.
It has been few months since I passed and I still can’t believe I ACTUALLY learned to drive safely and confidently. Peter’s teaching is clever and methodical, tailored to you and your abilities; he is calm, always finds time for a good laugh and has plenty of tips and tricks to keep you calm and focused on driving. Peter teaches you not only to pass your driving test but also prepares you for a ‘real world driving’ which I appreciate now EVERY DAY.
Can’t recommend Peter Skelton’s driving schol enough!
Hi Elina. Thank you so much for your very kind words. Teaching you was a lot of fun and I wish I had more pupils like you. See you on the road after lockdown 🙂
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