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Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Checking Your Tire Pressure Can Bring Down Your Insurance Costs

Having tires that are properly inflated can greatly improve the overall safety of your vehicle. Thousands of accidents, ranging from small bands to large crashes, are caused every year all over the world by people driving cars with under-inflated tires.
Recent studies have also highlighted a surprising number of drivers don’t even know how to check their tires, or regularly forget to do so.
If you’re driving a car with under-inflated tires or incorrect amount of tyre tread, you’re putting yourself at a much higher risk of getting into an accident; meaning you’re at much greater risk of losing any no claims bonus.
Inflating your tires properly may not reduce your current insurance premium, but it can certainly improve your chances of stopping it increasing. So if you do end up having an accident due to your tires, you’re not only likely to end up in pain (or worse), you’re guaranteeing you’ll be paying more per month on your insurance premium. This will happen regardless of whether you’ve got a temporary car insurance policy or full annual cover.
So why is there such a difference when driving on tires that don’t have the correct pressure? On the whole, it mainly affects your breaking distance. If your tires aren’t properly inflated, your stopping distance will be greatly increased, meaning you might end up with unpredictable results when trying to break (thus increasing the chances of an accident).
In order to avoid getting into an accident and seeing that instant car insurance quote shoot up, you should try and get into the habit of checking your tyres before you go on a journey. You should always check the tire pressure using a simple tool, and also check the thread level, ensuring both meet legal recommendations. This shouldn’t be overlooked under any circumstances, even if you’re just on a day car insurance policy on a rented car and you’re taking a short journey, it’s better safe than sorry.

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