The Motor Ombudsman has unveiled its Make Time for Tyres campaign at the UK Garage and Bodyshop Event, as it aims to make drivers aware of tyre safety.
The initiative, which is supported by TyreSafe, and the tyre and road safety campaigner Sophie Lyden, is geared around the concept of ‘time’. It has been launched to emphasise the need for vehicle users to regularly check that their tyres are safe and legal, in terms of their pressure, tread depth, and overall condition.
According to The Motor Ombudsman, every year, around 57% of cars on UK roads have tyres that are running at 10% below the optimum pressure levels recommended by vehicle manufacturers. This equates to approximately 75 million under-inflated tyres, highlighting the importance of increased awareness around this crucial aspect of vehicle maintenance, with the Make Time for Tyres campaign aiming to do this.
Sitting at the heart of The Motor Ombudsman’s logo, the blue tick insignia is a core feature of the design ethos of the Make Time for Tyres campaign. It has been incorporated both as a ‘tick for safety’, and a symbol of reassurance and quality, to reinforce the fact that consumers will receive the highest standards of work and service when visiting a garage that is accredited to The Motor Ombudsman’s Service and Repair Code, for any aspect of looking after their car, including when it comes to tyres.
Promoting Make Time for Tyres
The Motor Ombudsman has created a suite of eye-catching posters for garages to download and print for display within customer-facing areas. They feature a series of impactful messages to encourage vehicle owners to keep a close eye on their tyres, and to accentuate the fact that the condition of the rubber changes over time with usage and wear.
These promotional assets equally bear a QR code for consumers to easily access tyre-related information on The Motor Ombudsman’s website via a smartphone. Content includes, key maintenance tips, and resources produced as part of the body’s TyreSafe Award-winning campaign on the use of winter tyres and wheel accessories during periods of cold weather.
“I am delighted to be supporting The Motor Ombudsman’s latest tyre safety campaign, Make Time for Tyres,” commented Sophie Lyden, tyre and road safety campaigner, and Depot Manager at The Motor Ombudsman-accredited Westgate Tyres garage in Morecambe, Lancashire.
“Checking tyres is a critical aspect of vehicle safety, as ultimately only a small contact patch separates a car from the road. Therefore, driving home the message about consumers putting time aside to ensure tyres are in their optimum condition, is an absolute priority. This is because, just a few minutes of checks could make all the difference.”
Speaking to Auto Repair Focus at the UK Garage and Bodyshop Event, Lyden added: “We take off between 15 to 20 defective or bald tyres a day, at just one garage in Lancashire, so you can imagine across the whole of the UK what other garages are actually taking off. It is crucial that we all talk about this issue because, unfortunately, the situation is only getting worse.
Social media impact
The Make Time for Tyres campaign will be promoted heavily on social media, with Lyden, a prolific presence on multiple platforms through her Fresh Drivers UK accounts, a leading voice. “Social media is an amazing tool for this industry, whether it be for our campaigns or for the aftermarket, because it can really get to the people who maybe do not see what we do every day,” she continued.
“So, by sharing videos about tyre safety, about wheel alignment, about brakes, about all different aspects of this industry, people get to acknowledge what we actually do behind the scenes. They understand it a bit more. It reduces the anxiety of going to a garage because they have that slight bit of better knowledge than what they had before.”
To access The Motor Ombudsman’s information resources and tips on tyres, based around the Make Time for Tyres campaign, visit this link.
