Your driving habits have a significant impact on the health and longevity of your tyres, as well as your safety on the road.
To maintain the health of your tyres and ensure your safety on the road, it’s important to adopt safe driving habits. This includes driving within the recommended speed limit, taking corners carefully and smoothly, avoiding overloading your vehicle, and driving on well-maintained roads as often as you can.
Here are some ways your driving style can affect your tyres:
1. Speeding and Hard Acceleration
The most common driving style that damages your tyres is hard acceleration and driving at high speeds, both of which cause your tyres to wear out faster due to increased heat and friction. High friction produces increased heat, which in turn leads to tyre wear. Additionally, hard acceleration causes bits of rubber from the tyre to shred and chip off, thereby further increasing wear and tear. Similarly, speeding increases heat and friction, putting more stress on your tyres. The best thing to do is drive gently to help improve the longevity of your tyres.
2. Hard Braking
Similar to hard acceleration, hard braking can also lead to premature tyre damage. Frequent emergency braking has an adverse effect on the car’s suspension and leads to uneven wear of tyres. Driving in city traffic often includes hard braking, but this can be minimised by maintaining a safe following distance, keeping your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road.
3. Cornering
Taking corners too quickly or aggressively can also cause your tyres to wear unevenly, as the outside edges of the tyres are constantly under stress. This can lead to poor grip and reduced handling, making your vehicle less safe to drive.
4. Overloading
Overloading your vehicle beyond its recommended weight limit causes excessive stress on your tyres. The tyre of a car is designed to carry a particular maximum weight as prescribed by the vehicle manufacturer. This weight is known as the load rating and is marked on the tyre’s sidewall and in the car owner’s manual. By overloading your vehicle, you increase pressure on the tyre, weakening its internal structure which not only leads to faster wear and tear, but an increased risk of tyre bursts.
5. Driving On Rough Roads, Debris And Over Curbs
Driving on rough or poorly maintained roads such as potholes and debris causes your tyres to wear out faster, as they are exposed to more friction. Hitting harshly against a curb can easily cause cracks on the rubber of a tyre and damage the wheel, rim, steering components and suspension. Remember to drive slowly and carefully in built-up areas and look out for unmarked curbs.
Regular tyre checks and maintenance can help detect any potential issues before they become major problems. By changing your driving habits, you can extend the life of your tyres and enjoy a safer drive.
Gals Garage, in association Toyota Motors South Africa recently hosted a Tyre Safety Workshop aimed at female motorists.
Supported by Toyota Motors South Africa (TMSA), the first Gals Garage Tyre Safety Workshop of 2021, took place in Gauteng recently. Although all COVID regulations had been taken into account, organizers of the event took further precautions by hosting the Workshop over a few 4-hour sessions at different venues, thereby giving guests the added comfort of knowing their health had been taking into consideration.
The Gals Garage Tyre Safety Workshop not only allowed guests to simulate a flat tyre scenario but also gave them an opportunity to test drive the Toyota Urban Cruiser, Toyota Starlet and one of 2 Toyota Agya vehicles.
It used to be safe to ask a stranger to assist you to change your flat tyre but times have changed, so it is to every woman’s benefit to know how to do so herself.- FOUNDER, GALS GARAGE WORKSHOPS
It used to be safe to ask a stranger to assist you to change your flat tyre but times have changed, so it is to every woman’s benefit to know how to do so herself.
– FOUNDER, GALS GARAGE WORKSHOPS
Kicking off with an interactive discussion about tyre rotation, wheel alignment, and wheel balancing, the important topic of knowing how to change a tyre led to a few of the ladies relating personal stories about the inconveniences and dangers of being stuck on the side of the road.
It is important to align the jack with the car-jack point. If you jack the vehicle at any other point, the car’s weight may cause damage to its frame.
– FOUNDER, GALS GARAGE WORKSHOPS
Excited about learning this basic life skill, the ladies gathered around the 2 Toyota Agya vehicles and set about changing a tyre; all the while talking about causes of a flat tyre, how to identify you have a flat tyre (while driving), and safety measure to adhere to in the event of a flat tyre. These include pulling out of traffic as slowly as is safely possible, parking on a flat surface where possible, ensuring that the handbrake is engaged (either in gear in manual transmission or Park if in an automatic).
“In some instances, it is advisable to place a brick in front or behind one of the other tyres to further secure the vehicle,” Vuyi mentioned, “but you must remove these before you leave so as not to cause damage to another motorist’s vehicle, particularly at night when visibility is generally reduced”.
Another important element under discussion was identifying the optimal position to place the red reflective triangle which serves as a warning for other motorists, as well as learning the correct names of each of the tools required to successfully change a flat tyre – wheel spanner, nut-lock, car jack, reflective red triangle, spare tyre.
In some instances, it is advisable to place a brick in front or behind one of the other tyres but you must remove these before you leave.
– Founder, GALS GARAGE WORKSHOPs
It came as a surprise to some of the ladies that all cars have a car ‘jack point and that it is the safest location to position the car jack. By running their fingers along the edge of the bottom of the body of the car, the ladies discovered either one or two jack-points positioned either a short distance behind the front wheels or positioned a short distance in front of the rear wheels.
“It is important to align the jack with the car-jack point. If you jack the vehicle at any other point, the car’s weight may cause damage to its frame or, the jack may slip off, causing the vehicle to crash to the ground. Either way, this could result in serious injury to yourself and expensive damage to the car,” Vuyi said.
I will never forget the day my children and I nearly spent a night at the side of the road just because I did not know to change a flat tyre.
– GUEST, GALS GARAGE TYRE SAFETY WORKSHOP
To their surprise, the ladies accurately and safety completed the tyre change exercise in less time than they had anticipated. Most could barely believe how simple the task was.
“I will never forget the day my children and I nearly spent a night at the side of the road just because I did not know to change a flat tyre. Looking back I feel annoyed with myself because I put us in unnecessary danger yet here I am, doing this simple thing in 20 minutes!” remarked one of the guests.
When it came to test driving the various Toyotas on display, the Starlet proved to be a clear favourite among the ladies. “It stylish, spacious, comfortable to drive and quite spacious,” one guest remarked.
“The Agya is much bigger than it looks”, remarked one of the guests. “When I first glanced at it, I felt it was a ‘toy’ but, out of curiosity, I drove it and now I’m surprisingly impressed. I would love to have it as my weekday car because it would be easy to park,” she continued.
Some car salesmen can be very pushy, but his job is to listen to my needs and give me the best product which fits my budget.
– Guest, gals Garage Tyre Safety Workshop
Many of the ladies expressed appreciation that they had had an opportunity to test drive the Toyota vehicles in the comfort of their environment because they find car dealerships intimidating.
“I am not looking forward to buying a car because some car salesmen can be very pushy,” one lady said. “I feel that car salesmen judge women based on appearance and I am not about to make the extra effort just so the salesman will want to approach me when I walk into a dealership. His job is to listen to my needs and give me the best product which fits my budget – not to make me feel unknowledgeable and small,” she concluded.
ABOUT GALS GARAGE WORKSHOPS
Gals Garage Workshops, Because Women Deserve Better, was conceptualized and launched in 2016 by motoring journalist, Vuyi Mpofu when she identified a gap in the market to engage with female motorists. The Workshops aim to inform, educate and empower female motorists about the nuances of various elements of vehicles and serve to encourage women to become aware of the vehicle components which affect everyday driving safety.
Other than the Tyre Safety Workshops, the Gals Garage brand offers a variety of courses being:
In a word, no. A puncture that falls outside the minor repair area is not eligible for repair because of its proximity to the sidewall.
The sidewall is off limits for a straightforward reason. When the tyre is in daily operation, this section undergoes a significant amount of stress. Any attempts at making repairs in this area will potentially weaken the structural integrity of the tyre.
Another factor is that the sidewall experiences the most flex in the tyre. It’s unlikely that a repair patch applied here will stay in place for very long, and the tyre will fail once more.
Bear in mind that you should avoid driving on a flat tyre at all if you hope to salvage it. The reason for this is that continued use of a failed tyre results in further damage to the tyre due to loss of pressure in the tyre. The shape of a tyre is maintained by the pressure within it, but as a flat tyre is void of any pressure, the sidewall of the tyre automatically collapses and gets pinched within the wheel rim; making it too damaged for repair and safe reuse. The better course of action is to have the vehicle towed or to swap the punctured tyre for the spare tyre until you reach the nearest tyre repair outlet or fuel station where it can be replaced or repaired.
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