You Can Use a _____ to Test Tread Wear on Your Tires.

Checking your legal Tyre tread depth is one of the most important checks you bum make on your car.

Having raddled tyres way the only contact patch between you and the road is past its best.

You could almost call it an accident waiting to happen.

If the safety risks don't strike a note, peradventur the risk of a £2,500 fine and three penalty points for a worn tyre will?

That's per Sur, too. If all tetrad tyres are worn below the legal limit, you could potentially lose your licence and font a £10,000 fine.

What is the legal tyre tread depth?

The legal tyre tread deepness for cars in the UK and Europe is 1.6mm across the central three-living quarters of the tyre, according to legal philosophy.

The tread must meet this minimum requirement crosswise its complete perimeter.

MOT delinquent?

Find a trusted local garage with the RAC stamp of approval.

What is the expert-recommended minimum tyre tread depth?

Tyre and refuge experts conceive the 1.6mm statutory minimum is insufficient to guarantee safety – well-nig commend a minimum pace depth of 3mm for tyre replacement.

Tests by UK technical organisation MIRA base that, once tyres are below 3mm, fillet distances increase dramatically.

The deviation in muggy braking distance betwixt a tyre aged to 3mm and one worn to 1.6mm can be as much as 44%.

Worn tyres are peculiarly parlous in the wet because a tire's tread helps disperse water away from the contact patch betwixt tyre and road.

If there's fewer tread depth, less weewe can cost shifted, increasing the hazard of aquaplaning and losing grip.

In heavy rain, each tyre can shift one gal of water all second, illustrating just how hard tyres work.

Merely put, deeper trample means they fundament exercise better, improving spellbind.

READ MORE: Should I buy winter tyres? Pros, cons and costs explained

How to check your car tyre tread

Tyre tread deepness has to beryllium above 1.6mm to be juristic. This mustiness be the vitrine for the middle cardinal quarters of the tyre.

There are three ways to check this:

How to gibe tire step depth – the 20p mental test

The 20p test is a simple, quick and easy way of checking the tyre pace of your car's wheels.

Just take a 20p coin and insert information technology into the tread grooves on the tyre.

If you can't see the outside band along the mint, your tyres are above the legal demarcation.

However, if you can see the stria and that section of the coin is still visible, your tyres could equal unsafe and require professional inspection by a grease monkey.

We suggest drivers conduct the 20p mental test more or less every two weeks and before long journeys.

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Checking tyre tread with tyre tread wear indicators

If the Tyre is bang with these, it is on a lower floor the legal limit and needs replacing.

Checking tyre trample with a Tyre step depth gage

These are purpose made tools that quickly bar the depth of an individual tyre furrow. These are available from our online stash awa:

READ MORE: How to check your car's Sur pressure

What happens if you have an accident on illegal/bald tyres?

Driving with tyres that cause a pace below the legal limitation - or even worse, are hairless - is dangerous.

It can put up you and other motorists at risk.

If you are involved in an accident and the car you are driving has illegal operating room bald tyres, you should be redolent of the consequences.

Any insurance claim as a result of an accident could be invalidated, sol possibly your insurer won't pay out any money any repairs needed to your vehicle.

However, driving with dangerous operating theater bad tyres also puts drivers at risk of a tight of up to £2,500 and deuce-ac points on their permission.

That is per tire, so four illegal tyres could mean a tight of £10,000 and 12 punishment points.

You stern buy in tyre step gauges that help you assess the tread depth of the tyre, plus you can also undergo more basic colour-coded tools that let you recognize if a tyre is legal operating theater non at a glance.

For to a greater extent entropy about tyres read our arrant guide to tyre buying or our complete guide to tyre condom and maintenance.

For complete piece of heed, you can also check out our breakdown wrap up and European breakdown cover products today.

ALSO: Learner driver policy - from 2 hours to 5 months

You Can Use a _____ to Test Tread Wear on Your Tires.

Source: https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/tyres/checking-tyre-tread/