Promoting UK Tyre, Driver and Road Safety
TyreSafe is a UK charity dedicated to raising awareness of tyre, driver, and road safety awareness, focusing on the dangers of defective and illegal tyres.
What
we
do
Safe Tyres Save Lives
TyreSafe was established in 2006 and became a registered charity in 2016. Our aim is to reduce the number of tyre-related incidents on Britain’s roads by raising road user’s awareness of the importance of tyre maintenance and the dangers of illegal and poorly maintained tyres.
Since our inception, TyreSafe’s activities have helped reduce the number of tyre related incidents each year and continues to contribute to a reduction in casualties on our roads.
Achieving Charity status in 2016, TyreSafe is a signatory to the European Commissions’ ‘European Road Safety Charter’ the United Nations ‘Decade of Action for Road Safety’ and twice winning the prestigious ‘Prince Michael International Road Safety Award’ – most recently in 2024.
The Case for Action
Statistics to support our case for action are numerous and include;
Over 6 million tyres in the UK have illegal tread each year, which could lead to a fine of up to £2,500 per tyre and 3 penalty points. (Source: TyreSafe 2023 Tread Depth Survey)
6,316 convictions for defective tyres in 2023, with a five year average of 6,502 per year (Source: Criminal Justice System Statistics publication: Proceedings and Outcomes 2012-2023)
Over 2 million MOT failures occur each year due to tyre defects, with one million classified as dangerous. Tyres are the primary cause of MOT failures in the first seven years of a vehicle’s life. (Source: DVSA)
On average over the last five years, 152 people are killed or seriously injured in incidents related to defective tyres. Shockingly, this figure is on par with mobile phone-related incidents. The 2023 figures document a (29%) rise in KSI casualties compared to 2022 (from 147 to 190), the highest number of casualties due to tyre defects since 2018. (Source: DFT – latest figures from the Reported Road Casualties GB Report September 2024).
1 in 5 vehicle breakdowns on motorways and A roads result from tyre defects. This equates to roughly 50,000 breakdowns each year on the motorway network alone. (Source: National Highways)