Your vehicle’s tyres are constantly working whilst you drive absorbing the impact of the road so you don’t have to.

Frequent use can cause considerable wear and tear to your tyres. There are three main ways to check tread depth to make sure you are driving with safe tyres that meet the legal minimum tread depth according to UK Law. But you maybe wondering why does all of this matter?

As one of the leading suppliers of mobile tyre fitting Glasgow, we know exactly what to look for in a tyre that needs to be replaced and have put together this easy to follow guide so you can as well.

The consequences of driving with tyres that do not meet the legal minimum tyre tread depth

Driving on “bald tyres” also know as tyres that don’t meet the legal minimum tyre tread depth can put the safety of you, your passengers and other drivers on the road at great risk. It can also have an unforgiving financial impact on your life. As driving with such unsafe tyres, as per UK law, you risk being fined anywhere between £2,500 to £10,000.

Readers may like to know vital information regarding bald tyres and road accidents. If you were to get in an unfortunate accident and an inspection revealed that you were driving with bald tyres, the insurance claim you make would likely be rendered invalid. Therefore, the cost of covering the damages to your vehicle and potentially, the other vehicle would have to be paid out of your pocket, adding to your financial burdens.

In addition, apart from the considerable fines, it can also impact your ability to hold and use your driving license. The UK Government states that if you receive 12 or more penalty points against your license within 3 years you can be banned from driving for a set period of time. It’s important to be aware of the legal consequences of driving with bald tyres.

If you are driving with one bald tyre, the UK law states the you can receive 3 penalty points along with a £2,500 fine. This is to act as a deterrent to prevent people from putting themselves and other drivers at risk.

If you are driving with two bald tyres, you can receive double the penalty points leading to six penalty points against your license (half the allowable limit) and a fine of £5,000.

If you are driving with four bald tyres, the consequences are severe. This could lead to you receiving 12 penalty points (where you receive three penalty points per tyre) against your license, leading to an immediate ban from driving for six months and a fine of £10,000 pounds!

What is the minimum tyre tread depth according to UK law?

According to the UK government, the minimum legal tyre tread depth is 1.6mm across the central three-quarters of the tyre. It is important to maintain the tyre tread depth as it can impact the safety of your vehicle.

How to check your tyre tread depth

There are three different ways in which you can check tyre tread depth. You can also use more than one method in order to accurately verify if you meet the legal tyre tread depth.

Check your car tyres for helpful tread wear indicators

Before you do this test ensure you have parked your vehicle on a flat surface, your car is secure with the handbrake on and you are a safe distance away from any type of heavy traffic, such as on your driveway, in a car park or a garage.

Now, take a look at your tyres. Check your car to see if your car tyres have a useful indicator between the tread pattern of the tyre. Remember that these indicators are small so it might be easy to miss them on first glance. These indicators are often a small arrow or a line. This will help you gauge if your tyres have worn down.

For cars in the UK and Europe, if the tyre is flush with these indicators they show you that your tyres may either be closely approaching the legal limit or worn below the legal limit.

Use a tyre tread depth gauge to assess tread wear

A reliable way to check the tread depth is to use a purpose built tool like a handy tyre tread depth gauge which are made to quickly measure the depth of an individual tyre groove. There are two types of gauges available to measure the tread depth for cars on the market are manual and digital gauges.

Carefully insert your tyre tread depth gauge in between the tread grooves on the tyre. If you have a manual gauge, you will need to make the reading from a scale on the side of the gauge. For example, if your reading indicates your tyre tread depth is 3mm, it tells you that your tyre is above the legal tread depth. If you have a digital gauge, you simply need to read the digital screen to assess if each of your tyres is above the legal limit of 1.6mm.

An important note is that your tyres must be measured in multiple points on each individual tyre to ensure the minimum tread depth of 1.6mm is maintained along both the width of the tyre and the circumference of the tyre.

An easy way to check using the coin test

Let’s assume your tyres don’t have tread wear indicators and you don’t have a tread depth gauge on hand to assess if your vehicle’s tyres are meeting the legal minimum tread depth. There still is an another way to quickly measure your tyre’s tread depth- the 20p test. What you need is to take a 20p coin and insert into the tread groove of the tyre. If the outer edge of the 20p coin is still visible, that is a prime indicator that your tyres are worn down and unsafe to drive on.

Whichever method you choose, it’s important to check the tread and the tyre wear frequently. This is especially important before you decide to drive for long hours at a time. Do remember to also check your tyre pressure as driving with tyres with low pressure for extended periods of time can wear out the parts of the tyres that make frequent contact with the road.

The importance of regular servicing of your vehicle’s tyres to prevent tyre tread wear

These tests to check tyre tread depth can be useful to assess your tyres before the tread depth approaches the minimum tread depth for cars.  If you are wondering how long do tyres last, it tends to be around the 5 year mark, but this will depend on a number of factors such as road condition, mileage, and driving style

In order to prevent driving with worn tyres, incurring costly fines and risk losing your license, it is important to get your vehicle serviced regularly to ensure its in a safe driving condition. Find out more here if you’re unsure about when to change your tyres to make sure you, your passengers and your vehicle are all safe and sound while you drive.