Checking tyre wear and tread depth is one of the most vital checks you can carry out on your vehicle. Worn tyres can lead to a plethora of complications, including safety and legal issues, and getting in an accident with tyres below the legal limit can result in rejected insurance claims (even legal responsibility for damage and injury).
Find out how to check your tyre wear and whether you need to replace your tyres today.
Why do you need to check your tyres?
Checking your tyres is important for a number of reasons. Tyre wear isn’t solely a legal issue, but also a safety one:
- Safety and performance – Adequate tread depth is vital for your car to be able to grip the road safely. This increases predictability and handling, improving vehicle performance and safety across the board.
- Legal requirements – A minimum tread depth of 1.6mm (across the central three quarters) is in place. Driving below this depth can lead to fines of up to £2,500.
- Preventing damage – Cracked or worn tyres are more susceptible to blowouts or punctures. These can be dangerous and costly to repair, where replacing the tyre early is usually the better option. Learn how to check your tyre pressure.
- Cost savings – Damaged tyres can harm fuel efficiency, costing you more money in the long run.
Essentially, failing to check and/or replace your tyres can be very costly, as damaged or worn tyres present both legal and safety risks.
What is the minimum tread depth?
Legally, the minimum required tread depth in the UK to drive your car is 1.6mm. However, many safety experts suggest that this is not enough to actually ensure safety.
Ideally, a minimum of 3mm is recommended for enhanced safety, as this is the point at which braking is significantly more reliable. This is particularly true in wet conditions, which, in the UK, are very common.
Checking tyre tread depth (the 20p test)
One easy way to check your tyre’s tread depth is the ‘20p test’. This is a simple and easy way to check your tyres are legal and safe without any expert equipment, all you need is a 20p coin:
- Take your 20p coin, and insert it into the tyre tread grooves.
- Push the coin in firmly, and observe the edges.
- If you are able to see the raised edge around the coin, this means your tyre’s tread is below 1.6mm and is illegal to drive on.
If you think your tyres are on the edge, or you can’t quite tell whether they’re at the legal minimum from the 20p test, we’d recommend replacing them just to be safe. Learn more about the signs that your car needs new tyres.
Finding your tyre size
If you discover that your tyres need replacing, the next step is finding and understanding your tyre size.
You will find your tyre size through a range of numbers and letters on the sidewall of every tyre. There are a few key components to understanding sizing, and the digits on the side read as follows (in this order):
- The 3-digit number is the tyre’s width, such as ‘175mm’.
- The 2-digit number is the tyre’s aspect ratio, e.g. 65″, to represent the tyre’s sidewall height.
- The letter tells you how a tyre is constructed. For example: ‘R’ means that the tyre has radial construction.
- The 2-digit number indicates the diameter of your wheel, such as ‘15in’.
There may also be a 2 or 3-digit number that represents the max load capacity of your tyre, such as ‘95’ to state that it can hold up to 690 kg.
Get your new tyres with DA Techs
If you need new tyres, the process is made easy with DA Techs, your local tyre shop. All you need are your tyre details and registration number, and you’ll be able to choose from our wide-ranging tyre brands that suit all budgets.
Once you have selected your tyres, we will give you a call to make arrangements to have your brand-new tyres fitted.