Pressure’s on to keep tyres safely inflated

MOTORISTS are being warned they can get penalty points for incorrect tyre pressure.

One driver has already been given two points — believed to be the first case of its kind since the system began.

It means motorists now face the risk of a penalty if their tyres are under or overinf lated.

The development emerged as part of an analysis by Continental Tyres.

They discovered that the penalty-point offence was “unsuitable tyre due to degree of inflation”. It’s one of a wide-range of new offences carrying a points punishment, introduced in April 2016 by then Transport Minister Paschal Donohue.

But it was more than a year later (July 2017) before one driver had the distinction of being Ireland’s first to be penalised for an incorrectly-inflated tyre.

The analysis was carried out as part of Continental Tyre Group’s commitment to its Vision Zero strategy.

The company’s Irish boss, Tom Dennigan, says motorists need to realise not just that incorrectly inflated tyres can be dangerous but that they can also get you points.

He says previous surveys showed “Irish motorists are lax when it comes to looking after their tyres”.

“In one of our surveys, we found that only one in 10 female motorists regularly check their tyres, while the figure for men was 23pc,” he adds.

Both figures, he says, show that the vast majority of motorists pay scant regard to their tyres.

In total there have been 1,684 penalty points notices issued for various tyre safety-related offences by the gardai, according to a Road Safety Authority spokesperson.